Scaling Resilient Agricultural Technologies for Smallholder Farmers in Africa- Lessons & Opportunities

CTA-SACAU Workshop, Birchwood Hotel, 13-15 September 2016

Presentation Outline

• About AGRA• Scaling Resilient Technologies• Lessons • Opportunities

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Established in 2006, AGRA is an African-led alliance whose vision is a food-secure and prosperous future for all Africans.

Our mission is to catalyze and sustain an agricultural transformation in Africa through innovation-driven productivity increases and access to markets and finance that improve livelihoods of smallholder farmers.

Who we are

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Achievements………..

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9,000 Farmers Organizations5 million farmers aware of ISFM and 50% of them using

400 SMEs that purchased farmers’ surpluses

Catalyzed changes in seed and fertilizer policies

>100 seed companies - 120,000 MT of seed annually.

Over 500 crop varieties & 600 students trained.

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1. Double the incomes of 9 million farm households through the direct result of activities of AGRA, grantees, and partners

2. Contribute to doubling the incomes of another 21 million farm households through the contributions of AGRA, grantees, and partners to policies, programs, and partnerships.

3. Support all focus countries on a pathway to attain and sustain an agricultural transformation through sustainable agricultural productivity growth and access to markets and finance.

AGRA is seeking to transform agriculture from low-yield subsistence to a business that thrives

AGRA’s headline goals for 2020

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AGRA is moving to an integrated delivery approach to better catalyze and accelerate transformation…

Previously AGRA’s programs were designed and phased at different

times, with different business plans and deliverables

AGRA now has country level strategies that use an integrated packaged of support

tailored to specific needs and focus areas

Moving from a Programme-based approach…

…to an Integrated approach across three levels

National level

Systems level

Farmer level

• Government • Donors • Investors

• Input cost and availability

• Warehouses• Markets• Financial services

• Extension services

• Value addition

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Implement a fully integrated set of activities to catalyze and sustain an agricultural transformation across 11 countries

AGRA will deliver this new strategy through two programs:1: The Agriculture Transformation Program

TANZANIA

MALAWI

MOZAMBIQUE

ETHIOPIA

UGANDAKENYA

RWANDA

NIGERIA

MALI

BURKINAFASO

GHANA

Guinea Savannah

Zone

East African Highlands

Zone

Miombo Woodlands

Zone

6 countries to catalyze transformation

5 countries to sustain transformation

Focus agro-ecological zones that overlap with targeted countries

Based on AGRA’s experience and insights, these are the countries where AGRA activities can best

achieve agriculture transformation

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2: The Farmer Solutions Program

Productivity and

Resilience

Drive the innovations needed to develop holistic market based solutions and overcome key technical and capacity barriers to agriculture transformation. Delivered through:

Human & Institutional

capacity development

Support research solutions that confront local constraints to production and emerging threats due to climate change, insect pests, and diseases

Support government and partners build capacity for independence

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On Scaling Resilient Agricultural Technologies

The Approach -Going beyond demos

05/03/2023

Access fertilizer and improved seeds at her local agro-dealer

farmer group with access to credit to buy farm inputs

farmer group with access to output market

Knowledge from demos – using adapted science

crop yields & income increases, and natural resource base is well preserved

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ISFM technologies – leading to crop diversification and resilience

Pigeon pea –maize intercrop in Tanzania: 70,000 ha; 500 USD/ton of pigeon pea to India

Cereal-Legume Intercropping

Maize/pigeonpea intercropping in, Babati Tanzania ; source AGRA database

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0.5

1.0

1.5

2.0

2.5

3.0

3.5

4.0

4.5

5.0

3.0

1.0

2.6 0.9

1.7

Pigeon pea Maize

Yeild

(t/h

a)

Net income 234 $/ha

Net income 647 $/ha

Cereal legumes intercropping is economically beneficial to farmers; diversity good for nutrition as well.

Net income 117 $/ha

• For mono crop maize all yield is high 3 t/ha net income is low

• For intercrop even with out fertilizer 1 t/ha maize and 0.9 t/ha pigeon pea net income is high due to high price of pigeon pea and low cost of production

• For intercrop even with fertilizer 2.6 t/ha maize and 1.7 t/ha pigeon pea net income is high due increased yield as well as high price for legumes

Impact• Yields are increasing, on

average: o Maize up from 1 to 3

tons/ha o Grain legume up from 0.5 to

1.2 tons/ha

• Uptake -1.7 million farmers in 13 countries

• 1.2 million ha of land is under ISFM practices (42% with legumes)

Conservation Agriculture TechnologyConservation agriculture practices such as residue retention increasing yield by 123%

Maize yield in Laikipia county in Kenya; source AGRA database

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Confidential

Microdose Control

Sorghum yields increased by 3-4 fold with fertilizer micro-dosing in the Sahel

Challenges/ Lessons Learnt

• Taking a value chain approach is the best strategy to scale.

• Strong farmers organizations are essential for scaling up credit-based interventions

• Policy to support SME’s/ farmers’ access to finance, landownership

• Research Gaps in adaptation of CSA technologies-socially, biophysical

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Opportunities: Climate smart agriculture

CSA

Strengthen systems to sustainably increase farm productivity,

responding to agro-ecological realities

Address women’s areas of vulnerability vis a vis climate

change

Strengthen farmers’ access to markets, finance

and risk mitigation

mechanism

Support research, capacity building

and policy measures

Four principal areas of intervention • Soil fertility, • SWC, • Improve planning, • Farmer access to

supply chain• Extension Svces

Work to gain a real understanding of women’s

particular needs

• Crop development• Soil fertility measures• Educating and equipping

next generation of scientists and socio-economists

• Governments’ agricultural development coordination mechanisms

• Improve market information systems,

• Post-harvest management and storage

• Link farmers to markets and viable insurance schemes

Thank you!