Hello, and welcome to a new edition of the IFPR-Kampala’s USSP news and research digest!
As
usual, this collection of recent news articles related to agriculture
is compiled from online news sources. We also include links to recent
publications on agricultural and policy-related research topics
pertinent to Uganda and the wider region.
In the news this week, government tells Ugandans to prepare for famine and how a humble seed is helping African farmers to better manage both food and water. We also have news articles on why understanding how crop diseases and climate change interact is vital and link to an article explaining how diets are a top killer
Under research, we provide links to:
- What drives smallholder farmers’ willingness to pay for a new farm technology? Evidence from an experimental auction in Kenya
- Understanding gender roles and practices in the household and on the farm: Implications for banana disease management innovation processes in Burundi
- Maize crop nutrient input requirements for food security in sub-Saharan Africa
- Analysing the potential of plant clinics to boost crop protection in Rwanda through adoption of IPM: the case of maize and maize stem borers
- Presence and property: Gendered perspectives on participation in a dairy development program in Kenya and Uganda
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Happy reading
News:
Current
trends, opportunities and strategies aimed at boosting more increase in
Coffee exports and the new partnership with Vietnam.
AgriProFocus
The Ministry of Agriculture has been seeking official collaboration with
the Socialist Republic of Vietnam which is known to have experienced an
increase in coffee exports from less than 2 million bags in 1991 to
27.5 million bags per year, making the coffee sub-sector in Vietnam
worth US Dollars 3.2 Billion. The Memorandum of Understanding covers 14
main areas in the broad categories of coffee production, animal health
and plant protection:
MAAIF responds to EU vow to ban UG pepper exports
Mulengera News
Licences of traders attempting to export substandard horticultural
products will be revoked in order to protect Uganda’s export interests.
500 residents homeless after eviction by investor
Monitor
More than 500 residents of Ngorymwet Parish, Igenge Sub-county in Kween District, have been rendered homeless after they were allegedly evicted from their land, which is more than 7,000 acres, by an investor. The land borders Bulambuli and Kween districts near River Atari. The land was allegedly allocated to Fol Logistics Limited to establish a rice factory and also promote the growing of rice by the Bulambuli local government in 2017.
Meet Grace Maku
CropLife
How plant science can help Ugandans feed their families and increase climate-resilience.
Prepare for famine, government tells Ugandans
Monitor
The government has warned of impending famine in most parts of the country, cautioning traders to limit food exports and families to start food rationing.
Billions at stake as EU bans Uganda exports
Mulengera News
Through their Mission offices in Kampala, the Brussels-based European
Union bosses have furiously written to Vincent Sempijja’s Agriculture
Ministry halting any further exportation of Ugandan vegetables and fruit
on grounds of being toxic and unsafe.
Economic impact of smallholder farmers in East Africa
The exchange
19,675,110
is an estimate of the number of smallholder farms in East African
Community (EAC) countries. They contribute roughly 30-40% of GDP,
employ roughly 70-80% of citizens, produce approximately 70% of the food
that people in EAC countries consume every day. Despite this impact,
smallholder farms continue to be among the most underserved markets in
the world.
Why people starve despite being surrounded by stockpiles of food in East Africa
East African
An
estimated 23 million people in Kenya, Somalia, Ethiopia, and South
Sudan do not have enough to eat relying on food aid. Experts claim that
the problem is not the lack of food rather, it is government
intervention. Most of the countries have a food reserves from previous
harvests, yet it can’t be sold due to disruptions in the East African
market.
Building resilience across East Africa one seed at a time
CCAFS
Hoima’s
seed bank, which was launched in August 2018, currently holds around 30
bean varieties, 23 finger millet varieties, two cowpea varieties and
one pigeon pea variety, hailing from Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda. Women
farmers are also keeping three local vegetable seeds at HOCOSEB, adapted
to local conditions.
How a humble seed is helping African farmers to better manage both food and water
Chicago Council
Early harvests and test crops using Water Efficient Maize for Africa
seeds have shown substantial results, producing 25 to 35 percent more
grain on average during moderate drought seasons compared with the
common seed varieties used previously.
Irrigating Africa: can small-scale farmers lead the way?
The Conversation
We often hear that irrigation in Africa is too limited, and that the key
to a “green revolution” on the continent is to expand to levels seen in
Asia. But what if there is much more small-scale, informal irrigation
in Africa than we thought? Could this be the basis for irrigating
Africa? Engineer-designed irrigation schemes are often advocated. But
the history of these schemes in Africa has not been a happy one. They
have repeatedly failed, as strict cultivating and watering regimes are
imposed, and high-cost equipment breaks down. Yet, such schemes remain
central to development programmes across the continent, despite the
disastrous record. What is the alternative? Could farmer-led systems
lead the way?
Understanding how crop diseases and climate change interact is vital
The Economist
In the past 150 years, the concentration of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere has risen from 280 parts per million (ppm) to 410 ppm. For farmers this is mixed news. Any change in familiar weather patterns caused by the atmospheric warming this rise is bringing is bound to be disruptive. But more carbon dioxide means more fuel for photosynthesis and therefore enhanced growth—sometimes by as much as 40%.
ICO indicator hits lowest level since October 2006
Coffee and Cocoa
The ICO composite indicator for coffee fell by 3.1 per cent to 97.50 US
cents/lb in March 2019, the lowest monthly average since October 2006
when the price was 95.53 US cents/lb.
Rice project has benefited 18 countries in Asia and Africa
New York Times
A decade-long agricultural project spearheaded by Chinese scientists has
helped alleviate the poverty of more than 1.6 million farming
households in 18 Asian and African countries by cultivating high-yield,
resilient rice strains.
A new global agriculture: using big data to bring farmers together
Food Tank
For
thousands of years, farmers have looked to the clouds for the next sign
of rain to irrigate their crops. Now farmers are also looking to
another cloud—the digital cloud—for insights that can make a critical
difference for their operations. Through this network of servers,
satellites, and mobile devices, the cloud is helping farmers share and
access massive volumes of data.
2023 will be the International Year of Millets
Food Tank
The U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization is endorsing India’s proposal
to declare 2023 as the International Year of Millets. Millet, a grain
mainly grown and consumed in developing countries until recently and
once considered a poor man’s staple, is quickly becoming a favorite
globally among those affected by climate change because of its ability
to thrive in harsh and arid environments.
IFPRI book highlights the key role of agriculture in improving nutrition
HarvestPlus
Biofortification is just one way in which agriculture has been used to
improve nutrition, and as it gets scaled up, it is likely to
significantly reduce the number of people suffering from hidden hunger
and help them to have healthy, productive lives. It “…is by no means a
silver bullet for elimination of hidden hunger, but as the evidence we
present in this chapter shows, it is a golden opportunity for improving
diets, with small and cost-effective tweaks in the current food system”.
Diets are a top killer
New York Times
In one of the largest surveys of data on global dietary habits and
longevity, researchers found that consuming vegetables, fruit, fish and
whole grains was strongly associated with a longer life — and that
people who skimped on such healthy foods were more likely to die before
their time.
The scandal of calling plantations ‘forest restoration’ is putting climate targets at risk
The Conversation
Curbing climate change via restoring Earth’s ecosystems to their former glory could be a profound positive legacy of the 21st century, but not if governments and their advisers pretend that vast commercial monocultures of trees are forest restoration.
Discussion papers, policy briefs and research reports
Rebounding
from the brink of extinction: commercial production of milk amongst
pastoralists for climate change resilience in Uganda
CTA
Changes in climate that intensify drought and accelerate the spread of
livestock parasites and diseases darken the economic future for
sub-Saharan pastoralists. Already stressed, as industrial and urban
development narrow their access to pastures and water for their animals,
many pastoralists face a bleak choice: abandon their livestock and
their cultural heritage or die. In Uganda, however, the outlook for
pastoralists is becoming much brighter. Thousands of pastoralists in
Uganda point the way toward a better option: commercial milk production.
This recent FAO publication defines policy coherence as the “systematic promotion of mutually reinforcing policy actions across government departments and agencies.” The report argues that, in the context of African food security, policy cohesion is ensuring that government trade policies do not undermine government agricultural policies and vice versa.
Research:
What drives smallholder farmers’ willingness to pay for a new farm technology? Evidence from an experimental auction in Kenya
Hira Channa, Amy Z. Chen, Patricia Pina, Jacob Ricker-Gilbert, Daniel Stein – Food Policy 2019.
We use an incentive compatible experimental auction to measure demand for a new agricultural technology, a triple layered hermetic storage bag. When used properly, the bag creates an airtight seal that reduces storage loss from insect pests and neutralizes aflatoxin contamination in stored grain. We find that demand for this new technology is highly elastic (4.3) and that the wholesaler could increase profit by lowering the price. We also find that farmers’ valuation for the bag is not significantly different based on the medium through which in- formation about it is communicated to them, either text, audio or video messages. This suggests that practi- tioners should use the cheapest option for disseminating information, which is text messaging in this context. In addition, we find that farmers who have prior awareness of the bag are willing to pay 20% more on average than those previously unaware of it. In total, the highly elastic demand for the improved bags, along with the fact that prior awareness of the bag leads to higher willingness to pay, suggests that a one-time price subsidy for the new technology could spur demand and increase future adoption.
Understanding
gender roles and practices in the household and on the farm:
Implications for banana disease management innovation processes in
Burundi
Iradukunda, F., Bullock, R., Rietveld, A., & van Schagen, B – Outlook on Agriculture, 2019.
Banana and plantain are one of the most important staple food crops and a significant source of income to smallholder farmers in the East African Great Lakes Region. Banana Xanthomonas Wilt (BXW) is a devastating bacterial disease that threatens smallholder production and livelihoods. We use a systems approach to describe how gender shapes roles and practices in the household, on the farm and in innovation processes. We draw on a case study in Burundi, where single disease stem removal (SDSR) has been introduced as a labour-saving package to reduce BXW incidence. Banana is grown by an estimated 90% of farmers, and BXW poses a critical threat to food security. We use qualitative data that include focus group discussions, interviews and transcripts from farmer learning group (FLG) discussions to describe gender norms, roles and practices and implications for awareness and uptake of SDSR in households. We identify gender patterns in innovation process, namely that men gain higher levels of access to information in FLGs than women and men are also primarily responsible for implementing SDSR. These patterns reflect gender-differentiated norms, roles and practices that are common in the household and in banana-based farming systems, thus demonstrating the ways that innovation processes perpetuate and reinforce common gender roles and practices. Women’s participation in FLGs, albeit lower than men, increases the potential of women to implement specific practices of the SDSR package. Systems approaches may be similarly used in different contexts where awareness and uptake of banana disease management packages, and other technical innovations, are not well understood. We found that gender norms, roles and practices significantly influence uptake of SDSR practices and warrant further investigation across the region, where smallholder uptake remains a pressing challenge to establish household food security.
Maize crop nutrient input requirements for food security in sub-Saharan Africa
H.F.M. ten Berge, R. Hijbeek, M.P. van Loon, J. Rurinda, K. Tesfaye, S.
Zingore, P. Craufurd, J. van Heerwaarden, F. Brentrup, J.J. Schröder,
H.L. Boogaard, H.L.E. de Groot, M.K. van Ittersum – Global Food
Security, 2019
Nutrient limitation is a major constraint in crop production in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). Here, we propose a generic and simple equilibrium model to estimate minimum input requirements of nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium for target yields in cereal crops under highly efficient management. The model was combined with Global Yield Gap Atlas data to explore minimum input requirements for self-sufficiency in 2050 for maize in nine countries in SSA. We estimate that yields have to increase from the current ca. 20% of water-limited yield potential to approximately 50–75% of the potential depending on the scenario investigated. Minimum nutrient input requirements must rise disproportionately more, with N input increasing 9-fold or 15-fold, because current production largely relies on soil nutrient mining, which cannot be sustained into the future.
Analysing
the potential of plant clinics to boost crop protection in Rwanda
through adoption of IPM: the case of maize and maize stem borers
Silvestri, Silvia, Macharia, Martin and Uzayisenga, Bellancile – Food Security, 2019
Maize plays an important role in the livelihoods of rural communities in Rwanda. However, maize yields are threatened by the presence of pests and diseases and a general lack of knowledge and information for their management. In this study we sought to assess if plant clinics are making farmers more aware and knowledgeable of pests and diseases and are indirectly contributing to higher yields. We interviewed 644 farmers across Rwanda, both users and non-users of plant clinics. Propensity score matching was used to match the users and non-users of plant clinics and logistic regression was used to assess a number of factors, including interactions with plant clinics, that affect farmers’ adoption of pest management practices. Our analysis shows that users of plant clinics are more aware and knowledgeable in recognizing and handling maize stem borers. Furthermore, users of plant clinics have on average higher yields than non-users and this difference is highly significant (P < 0.001). The analysis therefore demonstrates that plant clinics are beneficial to farmers in Rwanda. However, efforts are required to diversify the spectrum of practices that are promoted by plant clinics and by extension and advisory services in Rwanda.
Presence and property: Gendered perspectives on participation in a dairy development program in Kenya and Uganda
Pratyusha Basu, Alessandra Galiè, Isabelle Baltenweck – Women’s Studies International Forum 2019
As women’s participation has become central to the formulation and implementation of development programs, gender relations within households and gendered discourses in development programs have been subject to much scrutiny. This paper seeks to expand these notions of gender and development by situating women’s participation at the intersections of households and development programs. More specifically, this paper approaches participation as an amalgam of presence and property – the former denoting myriad forms of women’s work and knowledge, and the latter denoting access to and control over resources. The case study utilized here is the East Africa Dairy Development (EADD) program which aims to organize small-scale dairy farmers through centralized hubs which improve access to dairy inputs and markets. Based on interviews conducted with women and men in Kenya and Uganda, this paper shows how initiatives that include women construct new pathways for women’s participation because of the ways that various participatory strategies relate to one another, rather than due to the efficacy of one strategy over another. Overall, this paper seeks to contribute to gender and development studies by attending to how participation actually emerges in specific contexts through gendered negotiations with participatory development policies.
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