ESA Review&Planning meeting/September 2021

Africa RISING ESA Project Partners Meeting
3 June 2021
Virtual via Ms TEAMS

Participants

1. A. Kimaro, ICRAF
2. B. Zemadim, ICRISAT
3. C. Azzarri, IFPRI
4. C. Thierfelder, CIMMYT
5. D. Mgalla, IITA
6. E. Swai, TARI-Hombolo
7. F. Kizito, IITA
8. F. Muthoni, IITA
9. G. Fischer, IITA
10. I. Dominick, WorldVeg
11. I. Hoeschle-Zeledon, IITA
12. J. Groot, WUR
13. J. Kihara, Bioversity-CIAT
14. J. Manda, IITA
15. J. Odhong, IITA
16. L. Claessens, IITA
17. M. Bekunda, IITA
18. M. Mutenje, IITA (consultant)
19. P. Okori, ICRISAT
20. R. Chikowo, MSU
21. E. Temu ( ICRAF)
22. J. Kihara, Bioversity-CIAT
23. J. Manda, IITA
24. E. Massam, IITA
25. Y. Muzanila (SUA)
26. M. Shtindi, (SUA)
27. M. Mutenje, IITA (consultant)
28. M. Mulundu
29. R. Chikowo, MSU
30. J. Mwololo, ICRISAT-ZW)
31. w. Gichohi (ICRISAT-Malawi)
32. B. Jumbo, (ICRASAT-ZW)
33. C. Azzari (IFPRI)
34. D. Songinge (Wolrdveg)
35. R. Wanyama, (Worldveg)
36. R. Chirwa, (Alliance Bioversity-CIAT)
37. M. Wezzi
38. M. Agnes,LUANAR
39. B. Beliyou, IFPRI
40. S. Snapp ( External)
41. P. Okori,(ICRISAT-Malawi)
42. C. Mankhwala,(Alliance Bioversity-CIAT)
43. I. Hoeschle-Zeledon, IITA
44. M. Cavicchioli (IITA)
45. K. Mekonnen (ILRI)
46. I. Hoeschle-Zeledon, IITA
47. M. Cavicchioli (IITA)
48. K. Mekonnen (ILRI)
49. J. Okonya

OBJECTIVES

1. Review progress, activities, and results for 2020/21 season.
2. Plan for implementation of activities in 2021/22 season.
3. Share updates with partners about project implementation and future direction

AGENDA
https://africa-rising-wiki.net/ARESA2021

1. Review progress, activities, and results for 2020/21 season.

• Project implementation updates & developments - M. Bekunda

Discussion

• Juliana. Mateete, How have you used the Africa Rising Project to inform policy?

• Mateete. We have been working and engaged together with the local district. Also, the material we are producing for scaling is part of documents that inform policy at the local level.By this year our plans are to developing materials to inform policy.

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• Review [progress with implementation of ESA workplan sub-activities]

• Sub-activity 1.1.1.1: Validation of drought-tolerant maize (DT) hybrids under on-farm conditions in central Tanzania- B.Jumbo
• Sub-activity 1.1.1.2: Investigations on the medium to long term impacts of SI technologies on crop productivity at multi-locational fields. R. Chikowo
• Sub-activity 1.1.1.3: Determining the productivity of groundnut as a function of seed generation × variety × density interactions in two contrasting agroecologies, and rotational benefits to maize.R. Chikowo

Discussion

• Irmgard. Regis, have you been able to do monitoring visits to the field?

• Regis. The big problem is we are not allowed to assemble farmers due to Covid. Though things are changing, the primary field works, the trials; case study survey; characterization, harvesting, and social economics mode are implemented.

• Irmgard. Which are the most SI technologies experienced by farmers?

• Regis. We emphasized more on the doubled-up and systematic rotation and so on. However, off the light, we were looking at a simple work that Wezi in LUANAR aiming at closing the yield gaps of legumes through the appropriate density. Also, part of the survey and model two of cases of studies documented the whole farmer analysis evidence farmers who are performing the double-up experiences density experiences better yield. This work has been adding up to our work Intensification approach. On the other side, we are interested in improving climate-smart and made it a point other than nutrient management, suitable germplasm, and others. The tied ridges are one of the water conservation which can improve the efficiency on the farms. At the moment, we are looking at the data we obtained from the survey to understand the proposition of farmers.

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• Sub-activity 1.1.1.4: Exploring productivity of goats under controlled breeding and feeding regimes among young breeding female goats in the crop‒livestock system in Malawi
• Sub-activity 1.1.1.5: Determining the productivity and resilience benefits of Gliricidia-based cropping systems . A. Kimaro

Discussion

• Irmgard. Thanks, Shitindi, but do you mean input or output market?

• Shitindi. I mean output market, Irmgard.

• Swai. To contribute to Shitindi, Antony & Job’s comments on the issue of adaption, adoption is complicated because some of the ISFM technologies, like tied ridges, require massive labor. Hence the rate of adaptation cannot be similar when we compare the nature of labor requirements. Technologies such as mechanization are labor-saving. Currently, there is another survey going on where Kongwa is a part of it. The Kongwa Kiteto team may note that the current level of intensification, maize and pigeon pea component is becoming common like Babati. If we refer to the adoption level of ISFM using pigeon pea in Kongwa Kiteto, we can note the variations. The soil water technology is labor-intensive on one side, and mechanization technology is imperative for many farmers to pick up the technology.
• Carlo. Job, how can the differences in yields computed among AR farmers be attributed to the AR project and not other intervening/confounding factors?
• Job. It is unclear if it applies in this case but will use in the survey we are conducting. We have tried to categorize our intervention farmers and farmers whom we did not have an intervention with (the control farmers), and we have records of the list of all our farmers and use the data to set the proportion of the farmers that we will interact with and farmers how are not part of us from the project site to show the difference between those who have interacted with the AR project vs. those who have not. On the other hand, we want to access the initial farmers with the project and identify farmers who had been/ not been considered to see if there will be attributions that can be done. We are doing this with Julius Manda
• Shitindi. Job, from the presentation, most of the domains are presented by the number of the ISFM components adopted by the farmers, but labor requirements also increase with the number of components adopted. We may establish the label of combinations of these components that people can see the most rewarding in terms of labor investment?
• Job. I will consider that as something that we can interact with the data set and see how we can enrich our publication with what you have contributed to us.

File:June 3 Seminar presentations Lieven 3June ESAPPT.pptx - Dr. Lieven Claesse (IITA)

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• Download presentation from link in the title above.

Discussion

• Carlo. Lieven, why did you conduct the study using the LSMS data that expand across full of Tanzania and not TARBES data? while the information is essentially the same, beside, data were collected among farmers in AR districts with and w/out AR technologies!

• Lieven. In general, it is ambitious, and it’s the assumption that we had to take. Since the big goal is upscaling, I thought it was a nice try to bring this to the national scaling with all the uncertain things, and there was an assumption we had to make. But I would be happy to exercise with the TARBES data. However, TARBES data is still limited to those two study areas (Babati & Kongwa Kiteto) right?. .

• Mateete. Yes, Lieven. It is essential for AR project before you go wide nationally. So, if the TARBES data are used to do the second analysis, I think it would be interesting for the project. Because scaling out even within Babati, we work in fewer areas than the full descriptions or even in Kongwa Kiteto. So, the TARBES data would work out okay.

• Carlo. Lieven, why is this study called ex-ante impact assessment? It looks like scenario modeling to me.

• Lieven. I don’t know the entail difference Carlo, but we did scenarios regarding the realist yields. For the impact assessment, we refer to the actual adaption rates or predictive adoption rates.

• Comment. Mateete. There is a need to put all the presentations together and stragetical plan on how we could produce a project legacy docuement from the PPT slides presented. It can be of interest, so there is a need to look at the presentations again and discuss further.