Even in a program like Africa RISING, where Sustainable Intensification is at the heart of the approach, such key concepts should not be taken for granted. A recent conference about ‘sustainable intensification’ in Accra showed that there are widely different understandings about such complex approaches. The 2013 review and planning meeting of the East and […]

Conservation agriculture, which involves minimum tillage of the land and retaining crop residues on the land, has proven useful for increasing yield and at the same time managing soil fertility and increasing farmers resilience to drought and climate variability in Malawi. However, so far the technology has mainly focused on maize. Can the technology be expanded to other crops?

The early win project Sustainable Intensification and Diversification of Maize-based Farming Systems in Malawi led by Washington State University (WSU), evaluated three farming systems - continuous no-till maize, conservation agriculture for sweet potato and cassava, and conventional farming for sweet potato and cas...

In Morogoro, one of the major rice producing areas in Tanzania, the farmers use residue water from rice irrigation to grow vegetables for additional income and to improve their nutrition. They however face many challenges, which the early win research project on “Enhancing vegetable value chains in rice-based and sole crop production systems to improve household income and consumption in Morogoro” aimed at identifying, in order to suggest options to tackle them and to increase the farmers' income and to improve their nutrition by diversifying their diets with safe vegetables.

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The project, which was led by the World Vegetable Centre (AVRDC...

The story of Rhoda Mang'Anya, a farmer in Malawi, is one of the best examples of possible pathways to sustainable intensification. Although it is not a story from Africa RISING, it illustrates very well the kind of pathways that Africa RISING would like to enable.

Rhoad Mang'Anya acquired her half-hectare plot in the early 1990's. The plot was divided between a 'winter season' plot and a garden, where she had planted maize.

At the time, Rhoda was struggling with the poor fertility of her soil. She planted ground nuts and pigeon peas to improve soil nitrogen. In 1994, she benefited from an NGO support program to plant five different tree species (among which faidherbia albida, tephrosia, Gliricidia) which improved the soil fertility and provided good fuel and fodder without requiring inte...

During the early win phase of the Africa RISING project; nutrition-related activities were conducted in Koutiala in the Sikasso region of Mali from July to October, 2012. A total of 36 villages were selected and grouped into 6 clusters mainly by ‘commune’ with each cluster having 6 villages. The 6 communes were: Medinacoura, Konseguela, Miena, Molobala, MPessoba, and N’Togonasso. These communes were selected based on on-going activities of Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) on nutrition rehabilitation of severely malnourished children emphasizing the need for malnutrition prevention-related activities.

The partners involved in the nutrition capacity building activities were: International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT), the World Vegetable Center (AVRDC), MSF, an...

From 23-25 January 2013, the West Africa project component of the Africa RISING program hosted a number of consultations in Accra, Ghana - a stakeholder meeting on 23 January then a West Africa steering committee meeting on 24 January. Alongside these, the first Program Coordination Committee meeting was held on 25 January.

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Le Mali s’est engagée dans un programme de sécurité alimentaire nationale (PNSA) qui couvre la période 2008 – 2017. Ce programme se justifie par les dernières années qui ont vu les campagnes agricoles devenir très capricieuses et imprévisibles, alternant années excédentaires et années de crises. La sécurité alimentaire est rendue d'autant plus préoccupante à la suite des manifestations des changements et de variabilité climatiques. C’est dans ce contexte que l’Association Malienne...