The use of quality seeds along with other inputs and appropriate cultural management practices is recognized as the most cost-effective way of increasing crop production and productivity. In considering interventions that are likely to reverse the trend of recurring food shortages, seed security has been recognized as having the potential...

Africa is leading the world in cell phone finance. In Kenya in 2007, Vodaphone started M-Pesa for the mobile network operator, Safaricom. M-Pesa, (from “M” for mobile, and “pesa,” the Kiswahili word for money) offers simple financial services on the phone. Customers go to a small shop to exchange cash...

Ethiopia has experienced impressive agricultural growth and poverty reduction, stemming in part from substantial public investments in agriculture. Yet, the agriculture sector now faces increasing land and water constraints along with other challenges to growth. Ethiopia’s Agrifood System: Past Trends, Present Challenges, and Future Scenarios presents a forward-looking analysis of...

In light of the uncertainties surrounding the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic, policy makers must ensure that national responses to the virus do not trigger a food crisis. The Covid-19 outbreak can shift the balance between food demand and supply, especially considering many countries having declared lockdowns and their borders closed. Countries...

The main target group is para-veterinarians involved in the development of small poultry farm at village level. The intention is that the paravets will extract from the manual the materials they need for training.

Rice is the second most important cereal crop in Tanzania after maize and the majority of rice farmers depend on it both for food and as a cash crop. However, highly competitive annual and perennial wild rice species have been identified as one of the important constraints to rice production...

Farm inputs such as improved seeds, fertilizers, and herbicides are conventionally packaged in large bag sizes that are beyond the financial means of small farmers. The technology demonstrates ways of mobilizing the private sector to make small quantities of appropriate inputs available in mini-packs. It also demonstrates novel ways of...

This is a story of hope and decolonisation in a time of crises. The Indigenous Bagungu People of western Uganda have lived along the shores of Itaka Mwitanzige (Lake Albert) since time immemorial. But for over a century, colonialism and globalisation have damaged and repressed both the Bagungu's traditional, Earth-centred culture and...

Hydroponics is based on growing agricultural plants without the use of soil. These are methods of growing plants either on a substrate or in an aqueous medium with bare roots. Non-circulating hydroponic methods, importantly, do not require electricity or a pump. With the method presented in this practice, the entire...

Coffee growing is an important livelihood strategy for smallholders in East African countries, notably Tanzania, Kenya, Uganda and Rwanda, where coffee is an important agricultural export. Smallholder production is less significant in southern countries such as Malawi and Zambia but although the smallholder sector is small, coffee is a major...

Hay-making is the most important method of preserving forage in many countries, including tropical ones. Silage-making is highly developed in temperate countries, especially in Europe, and goes with intensification. In tropical countries, plant growth coincides with the rainy season, which sometimes makes hay-making difficult. The objective of this technology is...

Yam productivity in the main yam-growing belt of West Africa is reduced by losses in the growing crop, and in subsequent storage, due to diseases and pests. Many of these are either spread in, or exacerbated by, poor quality planting materials. A package of crop protection technologies was developed (based...

The project has validated a participatory breeding approach for developing superior, mosaic disease-resistant cassava, demonstrating that it can provide a means by which farmers, plant breeders and plant pathologists could work together in an effective and inclusive manner. It also provided an environment whereby farmers made a significant and consistent...

Onion is a biennial vegetable grown in temperate regions as an annual crop. Onions are especially suitable for smallholder farming in many countries because they require a small amount of initial capital. Onions require a small piece of land and they take a relatively short time to mature. Onions can...

The technology was developed in collaboration with farmers in the Teso farming system of Uganda. It comprises of the development of appropriate animal-drawn implements, primarily for weeding but also for ridging (sweet potatoes), line planting and lifting (groundnuts). These implements are now being manufactured locally. Impact assessments showed that adoption...

Les bananes sont l’aliment de base des populations dans de nombreuses régions d’Afrique de l’Est. Elles constituent une bonne source de potassium, lequel intervient dans l’équilibre des fluides du corps et un aliment idéal pour les enfants en bas âge, les invalides et les personnes atteintes par le VIH/sida. En...

Rodents consume food in the field as well as in storage. Their contamination of stored food and ability to spread diseases causes them to cut across both the natural resources and health sectors. Research in Mozambique and in South Africa found that people have little understanding of the ecology of...

As part of a national action plan to manage animal genetic resources in Burundi, we characterized smallholders’ goat production systems and assessed the effect of Boer crossbreeding on animal body measures. To that end, 319 farmers were surveyed in the five agro-ecological zones of Burundi and the zootechnical measures of...

Maruca vitrata is a major pest of cowpea, resulting in 20 to 80 percent yield losses in West Africa. A pheromone lure and suitable trap developed in Benin and Ghana has successfully trapped male moths. From these trappings a threshold has been calculated to provide farmers with the optimum time for...

The following technology provides information on the use of aloe vera as a cross-slope barrier structure. This structure is particularly effective barrier to retain soil erosion by decreasing surface runoff and increasing soil infiltration. Aloe vera is a durable herbaceous plant, which is planted in the form of living barriers...