National Agricultural Extension Research Articles

THROUGH THE LENSES OF ACTOR-NETWORK APPROACH - THE DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION OF NIGERIAN AGRICULTURAL RESEARCH OUTREACH CENTRE

Agriculture’s goal in Nigeria is to provide supportive resources to sustain mankind, environmental resilience against climate change, nation’s economy, irrespective of geographical location or social status with a total land of 911,000 sq. km, and about (80%) is available for various agricultural purposes including arable land, permanent crops, pastures, and irrigated land. However, to achieve the set goal in the past, a series of agricultural information dissemination strategies such as radio, television, and print media were employed to raise adequate revenue for the agricultural sector and increase the food supply in Nigeria via Agricultural Research Outreach Centre in the National Agricultural Extension and Research Liaison Services adopted villages/ schools. The study was premised on a mixed method for counterfactuals to facilitate novelties. Despite all the efforts, these strategies did not yield the desired goal, thus, the digital transformation of the agricultural sector particularly to strengthen the extension system in Nigeria. This manner, demands the integration of the agricultural sector into the digital hub to create synergy among the stakeholders, source requisite agricultural information, and hybridize the means of disseminating agricultural information via participatory learning and action platforms. Also, create a Digital Participatory Learning and Action for Agricultural Extension (Di-PLA4AE). Thus, the paper trail on the concept of AROC, ICTs - Digitization, x-rayed the Actor-Network Approach (ANA) by Callon, its application, and the implications of digitization for agricultural activities to stakeholders and criticism in the context. More so, mirror the implications of the Di-PLA4AE and conclusion.

Analysis of Rainfall and Temperature Variability on Crop Yield in Lere Local Government Area of Kaduna State, Nigeria

Climatic variability is one of the major problems of Nigeria’s agricultural system and production. This paper examines the effects of rainfall and temperature variability on the yield of millet and cowpea in Lere Local Government Area of Kaduna State, Nigeria. Thus, information on yields of millet and cowpea, temperature and rainfall spanning the period of thirty years (1988-2018) were obtained for this study. The yield data for millet and cowpea were obtained from National Agricultural Extension and Research Liaisons Service (NAERLS), Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, while data for rainfall and temperature were derived from Nigerian Metrological Agency (NiMet) Abuja. Trend analysis of climatic and yield data was carried out using Microsoft Excel Tool (2017). The relationship between rainfall and temperature data, millet and cowpea data were tested using bivariate correlation analysis. The result of the trend analysis showed that rainfall increases from 1988-2018 but yield rate declines. The results of the correlation analysis showed a weak relationship between rainfall data and yield. In view of this, it was recommended that, there is need for the development of a comprehensive agricultural and climate change policy that considers the risks associated with millet and cowpea production among farmers of the study area and Nigeria as a whole.

The National Agricultural Research, Education, and Extension System

The National Agricultural Research, Education, and Extension System

Cost of farm operations for major cereals in Nigeria

This study assessed the cost of farm operations for major cereals in Nigeria. Secondary data obtained from the Annual Agricultural Performance Survey Report of the National Agricultural Extension and Research Liaison Services (NAERLS) was used to compute the cost of 12 farm operations as well as the percentage change in the cost from 2021 to 2022. Results showed that the cost of farm operations for producing major cereals recorded a very high increase across the states in Nigeria. The percentage increase in the cost of farm operations for producing a hectare was higher for maize (25.4%) than rice (18.3%). Furthermore, the percentage increase in the cost of farm operations for producing a hectare of maize was higher in the Northern region (34.9%) than in the South (17.2%). For rice, the percentage increase was higher in the Southern region (21.8%) than in the North (13.7%). The cost of farm operations has generally increased thereby threatening food prices. Efficient tractor-hiring services should be made available at subsidized rates at all LGAs through public-private partnership arrangements in Nigeria.

Building twenty-first century agricultural research and extension capacity in Africa

Abstract This study explores the effectiveness of international efforts to build the capacities of national agricultural research and extension systems (NARES) in Africa and proposes actions to improve the performance of these systems. Analysis draws on agricultural research expenditure data in Africa, Asia and Latin America and key informant interviews of 26 senior representatives of international and African research organisations. We conclude that donors and international partners have increased the supply of professional African scientists while contributing relatively little to the institutional capacities of African NARES. We propose a transition to what we call a twenty-first century African-led agricultural research system and identify actions to manifest it.

Building Research, Development, and Extension Capacity for Sustainable Fertilizer Use and Soil Health in Africa

Key findings are summarized from a study detailing how international donors and research organizations can more effectively strengthen the capacities of African national agricultural research and extension systems (NARES). International efforts are more successful in building the capacities of individuals than in strengthening the NARES institutions. Successful implementation of the Africa Fertilizer and Soil Health Summit and similar initiatives will require stronger national, regional and continental agricultural research systems that can lead and drive these initiatives. The authors identify actions required to strengthen these African systems and effectively implement African-led agricultural initiatives.

Factors that influence pastoralists’ estimation of onset and cessation of rains in Rwenzori region in Western Uganda

There have been improvements in scientific forecast dissemination through radio, internet, and mobile phones in Eastern and Southern Africa, however pastoralists remain unreached. Majority of pastoralists are not using scientific forecasts routinely to estimate rainfall onset and cessation. Indigenous knowledge forecasts (IF) play an important role in pastoralists' decision-making related to rangeland use and climate change adaptation. This study examined the factors that influence the estimation of climatological onset and cessation of rains among pastoralists in Rwenzori region in western Uganda. Data were gathered from 269 pastoralists’ households about socio-economic characteristics and rain onset and cessation estimation. The data was analyzed using the probit model. The results indicate that herd mobility, climate information use (both scientific and indigenous), wealth, education level, social capital and perception of climate variability and change were determinants of rainfall onset estimation. Agricultural extension access, having lactating cows, and perception of climate variability and change increased the likelihood of accurate estimation of rainfall cessation. Investments in weather stations in pastoral areas, constructive engagement of stakeholders in climate services, strengthening the linkage between national agricultural extension and meteorological systems would improve the estimation of rainfall onset and cessation that could result in an improved adaptive capacity of pastoralists. Mainstreaming climate change information in national agricultural extension systems and enhancing climate forecast communication through social capital could reduce the vulnerability of pastoral livelihoods to climate change.

Effect of Pruning on Growth, Fruit Yield, Nutritional Quality, and Nutrient Uptake of Two Okra Varieties (Abelmoschus esculentus)

A field study was conducted at the Research Farm of National Agricultural Extension Research and Liaison Service (NAERLS/ABU), Badeggi zone in Niger State in the 2020 and 2021 cropping seasons, respectively, to evaluate the effect of pruning on the growth, fruit yield, nutritional quality and nutrient uptake of okra. The experiment had six treatment combinations: two okra varieties (Blondy and Zaria Local) and three pruning rates (0, 1 stem, two stems) replicated three times. The experiment was fitted into a Randomized Complete Block Design (RCBD). Data were collected on several leaves per plant, green fruit yield, nutritional quality, and nutrient uptake. Data collected were subjected to ANOVA (Analysis of Variance) using Genstat Discovery Statistical Package. The effective treatment means were separated using Fisher's least significant test (LSD) at a 5% probability level. Pruning is beneficial to the performance of okra. Plants with two-stem pruning produced the highest fruit yield (12.80 t/ha) in 2021, while the control plots had the least values (1.60 t/ha in 2020 and 2021, respectively). Therefore, it could be concluded that two-stem pruning can increase fruit yield, nutritional quality, and nutrient uptake of okra. Blondy performed better than the Zaria local variety and could be recommended for farmers within the study area. Keywords : Blondy okra variety, Fisher’s least significant test, Randomized Complete Block, Design, two-stem pruning, Zaria okra variety

The impact of the international rice genebank’s (IRG) on rice farming in Bangladesh

BackgroundThe International Rice Genebank (IRG) currently safeguards the largest and most diverse collection of rice genetic resources in the world. Over the past decades, genetic resources from the IRG have been used effectively to increase smallholder farmers’ rice productivity in developing economies. Bangladesh is one of the direct and indirect recipients of IRG germplasm for rice genetic improvement. This study aimed to map the impact pathways of IRG germplasm transfers to Bangladesh, evaluate the genetic contribution of IRG germplasms to rice productivity of farmers, and compute the equivalent economic benefit.MethodsImpact pathway analysis was conducted to map the IRG’s germplasm transfer for varietal improvement and seed dissemination of improved rice varieties in Bangladesh using the information collected from key informant interviews. Using data from the farm household survey conducted by the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) in 2016 in five divisions in Bangladesh, a pedigree analysis was conducted that related the productivity changes in farmers’ fields explicitly to genebank accessions through varietal improvement. Afterward, we evaluated the economic benefit of IRG contribution in rice varietal improvement in Bangladesh using the computed marginal increases in productivity, average paddy price, and estimated total rice area.ResultsIRG’s impact pathway on germplasm transfer in Bangladesh showed that impacts for farmers were achieved through joint efforts with IRRI and the National Agricultural Research and Extension System’s research-for-development programs. On average, 52% of the improved rice varieties’ genetic composition, cultivated by farmers in Bangladesh, definitely came from IRG accessions. This contribution factor could increase up to 67% if possible contributions were taken into account. The results of the Cobb–Douglas model implied that for every 1% increase in the definite IRG contribution to an improved rice variety, there was an increase in rice yield of about 0.99%, holding other factors constant. This yield increase can be translated into an additional US$ 8,576,973 aggregated net benefit of farmers during the wet season in Bangladesh. The enhanced yield can be associated with the added important agronomic traits contributed by the accession provided by the IRG in the genetic background of the rice varieties developed for farmers in Bangladesh.ConclusionsThe findings of the study demonstrate that IRG accession forms a significant part of the ancestry of improved rice varieties which is associated with improved yield. The study highlights the valuable contribution of IRG’s conservation and distribution of genetic accessions to the research and development of improved rice varieties and rice production on farms in Bangladesh.

Extension's role in improving livestock production: information needs, institutions and opportunities

This research looked into In Nigeria, livestock production intelligence is often prioritized by centralized extension services. National agricultural extension services are primarily designed to spread knowledge on crop production, whereas livestock institutions and sectors are driven by veterinarians who are concerned about animal health. In many developing nations, however, the possibility of raising livestock production through the supply of knowledge is growing. The context of such growth is described in this paper, as well as some of the differences between livestock extension services and institutions. Livestock production is a major part of any country's economy and is essential for guaranteeing food and nutritional security. For centuries, livestock has been known to supply man's animal nutritional needs, as well as give numerous additional benefits to farmers and the national economy. Nigeria's population is rapidly increasing quicker than the increase of animal protein in a population of nearly of 402 million people by 2050, there will be a million people. Interactions between livestock and the surroundings in developing countries can be both positive and negative. On the one hand, herbivore composted manure can be a valuable resource. In more industrial operations, and where there are huge densities of animals, it is a nutrient for micro crops, but in more industrial systems, or where there are large concentrations of animals, it is a dietary staple for large-scale crops. They have the potential to contaminate waterways. On the other hand, ruminant systems in developing countries can be considered relatively inefficient use of resources. Because most of these production systems have large yield variability, boosting the effectiveness of the process is critical. Through appropriate development strategies, the cattle industry presents a tremendous opportunity for research and innovation can contribute to the development of more long-term solutions Future progress in this field must be based on existing institutions while also aiming to respond flexibly and fairly to the needs of livestock farmers.

Evolution of soil fertility research and development in Ethiopia: From reconnaissance to data-mining approaches

Summary Meeting the burgeoning global demand for both food and energy requires substantial yield increases through the efficient use of inputs like fertilizers. Prompted by the result of a soil survey expedition in the late 1950s, which signaled a widespread deficiency of nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P), plant nutrition research in Ethiopia began in the 1960s, focusing on the response of prioritized cereals – tef (Eragrostis tef), wheat (Triticum aestivum), and maize (Zea mays) – to the application of N and P fertilizers. Nationwide on-farm trials conducted in the early 1970s led to a blanket recommendation of 64 kg N ha−1 and 20 kg P ha−1, irrespective of the crop and soil types, which were applied in the form of di-ammonium phosphate (18-46-0) and urea (46-0-0), respectively. Research conducted in the 1980s across agro-ecological and edaphic spectrum recommended 30–138 kg N ha−1 and 0–50 kg P ha−1, respectively. However, studies show that only 30–40% of the smallholder farmers use fertilizers at a rate less than recommended (on average at 37–40 kg ha−1). This rate reflects limited supply, high prices, and the low and declining crop response to fertilizers. As a result, cereal yields increased only 10% despite a fivefold increase in fertilizer application since the 1980s. Owing to the limited and declining crop response and the increased price of fertilizer in the 1990s, research on the integrated application of inorganic and organic sources of fertilizers was initiated. Although the integrated use resulted in increased yield and better economic benefits, it was not mainstreamed into the national agricultural extension system. The soil survey expedition that began in 2011 culminated in the mapping of the soil nutrient status using literature-based critical limits. The maps have persistently revealed the deficiency of N, P, potassium, sulfur, zinc, and boron across the surveyed areas. Despite the above efforts, the data sets generated through the soil surveys conducted at different times during the last half-century and the agronomic research during the same period have never been fully exploited. It is believed that the recent development in data mining and machine-learning approaches creates the opportunities to use the data sets in conjunction with other covariates in order to generate evidence that helps to make better decisions both at strategic and operational levels. The development of decision support tools based on such large datasets and analytical capacity is believed to facilitate better-informed decisions that lead to increased resource use efficiency and sustainability.

Deployment of Maize technologies in Western Kenya: An outcome case study report. TAAT MEL working document No. 002

The Technologies for African Agricultural Transformation ( TAAT ) is a program initiated by the African Development Bank (AfDB) as part of its Feed Africa Initiative. The main objective of the program is to improve the business of agriculture across Africa by raising agricultural productivity and improving farmer livelihoods by mitigating risks and promoting diversification and processing across nine agricultural commodity value chains within eight identified Priority Intervention Areas (PIA). The program is implemented by IITA in close partnership with other CGIAR Centers, specialized technical centers (e.g. African Agricultural Technology Foundation (AATF), International Fertilizer Development Center (IFDC) etc), Forum for Agricultural Research in Africa (FARA), national agricultural research and extension systems (NARES) and private sector partners. TAAT is not a research program but is rather an initiative focused on scaling high-performance food production technologies to millions of farmers in a commercially sustainable way through a network of strategic partners. Technical coordination of the program is provided by the TAAT Clearinghouse, a semi-autonomous unit in the program's management structure serving as an honest broker in the identification and assessment of proven technologies and products that are ready for widespread dissemination, as well as linking these technical opportunities to wider national investment development agendas. The TAAT program increases agricultural productivity through the deployment at scale of and high-performance agricultural technologies along selected value chains. TAAT operates as a network of interacting with nine devoted to specific commodity value chains, and six others serving as Enablers that provide needed specialist services. The nine (9) value chain Compacts are rice, maize, cassava, wheat, sorghum & millet, orange-flesh sweet potato, high-iron beans, small ruminants & poultry, and aquaculture. The six (6) enabler Compacts are soil fertility management, water management, capacity building, seed policy, fall army worm control, and youth in agribusiness Compacts each of which provides enabling services to the nine commodity value chains. The TAAT Maize Compact is led by the African Agricultural Technology Foundation (AATF) in collaboration with the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA). The TAAT Maize Compact aims to disseminate water-efficient maize hybrids as a climate-smart option across the continent to improve the productivity of maize farmers. Included in the technology package deployed by the Maize compact is licensing of hybrids to seed producers that provide an avenue for mass dissemination. Through outreach campaigns and knowledge-sharing efforts, the Compact deploys across agro-ecological zones to reach the Compact's intended 2,000,000 million beneficiaries. The establishment of technology demonstrations in the fields stimulates interest by showing the positive impact of the technologies to the farmers and then used to leverage resources from African Countries for long-term implementation and sustainable national programs. Implementation through national agricultural investment programs is the only way to ensure the sustainability of technology delivery. It shall be noted that the TAAT Maize Compact technologies are supported by a very strong ecosystem of Public-Private Partnerships (PPP) seen through the participation of commercial seed companies working in partnership with farmer groups, commodity associations, and National Agricultural Research Systems (NARS). Primary beneficiaries of the maize technology dissemination efforts are smallholder farmers. The technologies deployed and promoted include: Elite Water Efficient Maize for Africa varieties (WEMA) Appropriate fertilizer blends Optimal maize planting density Efficient pest and weed management Post-harvest management Supportive marketing Mechanization Promoting good agricultural practices on the field. In Kenya, maize is the main staple food, yet it continues to face several challenges undermining its production to meet full self-sufficiency including drought, diseases, and pests such as the Fall Armyworm (FAW), Striga parasitic weed, and the Maize Lethal Necrosis Disease (MLND). In collaboration with its partners, the TAAT Maize Compact deployed several climate-smart maize technologies, optimal planting density, weed management, fertilizer blends, and pest and disease management technologies to facilitate the delivery mechanism of such technologies to farmers and scale them out across the country. The ground-truthing mission team observed that the intervention of the TAAT Maize Compact has benefited from a strategic ecosystem of partnerships that have contributed to increased yields for farmers that has, in turn, resulted in strong linkages and trust with local millers. Millers offer to farmers ready markets to sell out their produce When compared to maize landraces, farmers are also expecting to sell a bag of 90Kg of grains for 3,000KES giving them a marginal benefit (profit) of 1,000KES. This expected high price is due to the current maize shortages. To back up testimonials and information given by farmers during the TAAT Maize MEL mission in Western Kenya, the team opted to review journals from previous studies on the farmer adoption and on-farm performance of DroughtTEGOTM (We1101).

Livestock production and marketing for small emerging farmers in South Africa and Kenya: comparative lessons

Poor production methods and limited market access are some of the challenges that prevent small African farmers from developing. In cattle farming, poor grazing practices and a lack of vaccination produce poor quality animals. Limited information, poor infrastructure, cultural issues and other factors, lead to low participation levels of these farmers in livestock markets. This study explored the prevalence of these challenges in two geographical locations of two African countries (South Africa and Kenya) with the intention to identify possible cross lessons for developing small rural farmers. Ethnographic and case study methods were used to collect and analyse data in two provinces (one in each country) where cattle farming by small rural farmers is predominant. From the two countries, three cases of distinguishable cattle production and marketing challenges were identified. Firstly, rural South African (SA) small farmers are generally faced with high production and marketing challenges, which prevent them from developing into successful commercial farmers. Secondly, Kenyan small rural farmers face similar production challenges as those faced by their SA counterparts, but perform better at marketing their animals, although they still face a lot of structural marketing issues, with brokers controlling the market to the disadvantage of farmers. Thirdly, the study identified a case of rural Black SA farmers who are being assisted through a research project in the Eastern Cape Province that embraces a more holistic environmental approach to rural development to overcome most production and marketing challenges. Given the successes of the holistic view, this study concludes that the environmental approach presents the best case lessons for replication across SA in developing small African farmers. It is argued that the replication of lessons across SA would require central coordination by a government agency. The national agricultural extension office (one of whose mandates is to work directly with farmers for their development) would be most appropriate for this coordination role.

Profile of Extension Professionals and their Perception of Agricultural Extension Service Delivery: A Case of National Agricultural Research and Extension Institute, British Guyana

Background: Agricultural extension plays a critical role in amplifying agricultural productivity and profitability of farmers and improving the livelihoods of rural communities. In an agricultural dependent country like Guyana, effective agricultural extension service delivery is essential to reduce poverty and improve food security. Methods: This study was carried out to determine the efficacy of the National Agricultural Research and Extension Institute agricultural extension service delivery as perceived by researchers and extension officers. During 2019-2020 data were collected from researchers and extension officers via questionnaires, group discussion and interviews. Percentage and chi-square analysis were used to analyze the collected data. Result: The major findings of the study were that (45.8%) of researchers and (43.8%) of extension officers said they sometimes collaborate with each other whereas (29.2%) of researchers and (37.5%) of extension officers said they do not collaborate with each other. Extension professionals (42.5%) perceived that farmers were hesitant to adopt newly researched technologies because they preferred to continue with the practices they already know. In addition, (35%) of extension professionals perceived that more emphasis shall be placed on the number and quality of training programs offered to farmers in order to improve agricultural extension service delivery.

Socioeconomic, biophysical, and environmental impacts of raised beds in irrigated wheat: A case study from Egypt

Raised beds (RB) are hailed as means to mitigate the problem of excessive irrigation. However, their adoption and impacts in Egypt are not well-documented. This paper is based on survey data collected from a sample of 691 wheat fields drawn from three major wheat-producing provinces of Egypt. Using area-weights for upward aggregation, we estimated that 19.3% of total wheat area in the three provinces is cultivated with raised beds. We applied the endogenous switching regression model to analyze the socioeconomic, biophysical, and environmental impacts of RB. Model results showed that the adoption of RB led to a 937 kg/ha (12.79%) increase in yield, a US$77.60/ha (9.47%) increase in gross margins, an 824.63 m3/ha (15.05%) reduction in irrigation water application, 16.7% reduction in seeding rate, 5.56% increase in water productivity, and an 11.80% reduction in downside yield risk. Adoption of RB didn’t have significant effect on soil salinity and quantities of fertilizer and labor inputs. These results show that RB can provide panacea to several interrelated socioeconomic, biophysical, and environmental problems associated with irrigation. The policy implication of our findings is that Egypt and other similar countries can benefit from embracing RB as part of the technology packages promoted by their national agricultural extension systems. The benefits to these countries will increase if they invest more on research for adapting and perfecting the RB technology including its mechanization and its efficacy in soil salinity management.

Drivers of Farm-level Adoption of Crop Extension Packages in Ethiopia

Smallholder farmers’ adoption of agricultural technologies varies to a great degree with respect to spatial diversity, household related characteristics, access to infrastructure and institutional design. This cross-sectional study was conducted in order to understand the factors affecting the uptake agricultural technologies in the highlands of Ethiopia. Analysis was conducted on data collected in 2014 from a survey of 2,880 households in four major regions of the country covering 30 districts. Econometric method (two-limit Tobit model) was used to analyse determinants of farm-level adoption of crop technology packages promoted by the national agricultural extension service. Findings reveal that 71%, 66%, 60%, 52%, 46% and 29% of the sample households adopted recommended technology packages for potato, wheat, maize, tef, barley, and sorghum respectively. Results demonstrate that agro-ecology and spatial variability, distance from homestead to farm plots, slope index of the farm, access to extension services, access to credit, lagged gross annual income and membership to a cooperatives were all significant factors influencing technology adoption. The study shows there is significant variation in technology adoption between model farmers and non-model farmers. However, the productivity difference is limited to few crops. The findings suggest that investment in infrastructure, promoting access to institutional services and access to credit are instrumental to technology adoption by smallholders. The extension strategy should therefore promote inclusive strategy in which both model and non-model farmers have equal access to technology supply and extension services.

Awareness and Adoption of Good Agricultural Practices among Smallholder Farmers in relation to the Adopted Villages programme: The Case Study of Northern Nigeria

This study assesses smallholder level of awareness and uptake of good agricultural practices (GAPs) that were initiated by the National Agricultural Extension and Research Liaison Services (NAERLS) in Nigeria; a programme to enhance the agricultural productivity and income of participants. This study engaged with 120 smallholder farmers and their extension officer and data were collected via structured face-to-face and livelihood questionnaires and then analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics. The findings show that 82% of participants were aware of the specific GAPs covered by the NAERLS programme. Despite this, the majority of respondents were not practicing these. Participants identified numerous challenges to GAPs implementation, including; unreliable and inadequate rainfall; lack of farm inputs; high cost of farm inputs; lack of technical know-how; lack of irrigation facilities and high illiteracy. The study also shows that the level of awareness of GAPs among farmers in the study areas has a statistically significant impact on the productivity and livelihoods of smallholders. These initial results strongly suggest that the Nigerian government should provide funds to support NAERLS in order to intensify its intervention efforts. In the same vein, NGOs, rural developers, policy makers and government at all levels should be encouraged to provide farm inputs and credit facilities to farming communities to offset the high costs of inputs. Keywords: Good Agricultural Practices, Awareness. DOI: 10.7176/JBAH/10-6-06 Publication date: March 31 st 2020

Innovative agricultural extension value chain-based models for smallholder African farmers

The value chain extension strategy of Sasakawa Africa Association focuses on improving the capacity of national agricultural extension systems and follows various thematic areas along the value chain to address key challenges accountable for low income households and poverty in Africa. Farmer learning platform is a model designed to increase crop productivity and encompasses demonstration plots where technological packages demonstrated significantly outperformed other technology plots in crop productivity and average profit margins. Enterprise-oriented production, postharvest and trading centers are value adding models designed to improve the effectiveness of extension and adoption of postharvest and agricultural processing technologies by producers. The use of the above along with necessary capacity building has facilitated the development of profitable business linkages of smallholder farmers with financial institutions and reliable market opportunities. The community association trader-trainer model is a market-oriented business approach applied in combination with other extension models. In 2018, 297 community-based commodity association trader-trainers were mobilized and capacitated to improve farmer group dynamics and developed collective input and output access and cluster aggregation centers at community level where various agricultural produces were mobilized and collectively aggregated, and valued at about 3.9 million USD. The supervised enterprise project model is an innovative agricultural extension model developed along with above models for capacity development of extension agents and transfer of technologies to smallholder farmers. Over 6000 supervised enterprise projects have been introduced into 27 universities in 12 African countries for training front-line extension officers and extension delivery to farming communities.

Heterogeneous seed access and information exposure: implications for the adoption of drought-tolerant maize varieties in Uganda

Frequent droughts in sub-Saharan Africa imply water stress for rainfed agriculture and, ultimately, food insecurity, underlining the region’s vulnerability to climate change. Yet, in the maize-growing areas, farmers have been given new drought-coping options following the release and availability of drought-tolerant maize varieties (DTMVs). These varieties are being disseminated through the National Agricultural Research and Extension Systems in collaboration with seed companies; however, their adoption still appears somewhat modest, and empirical studies on their adoption potential and associated drivers are scarce. We use empirical data from Uganda to estimate the actual and potential adoption rates and the adoption determinants of DTMVs under information and seed access constraints. Adoption rates for DTMVs could have been up to 22% in 2015 instead of the observed sample adoption rate of 14% if the whole population had been exposed to them. The adoption rate could increase to 30% if seed were availed to the farming population and to 47% if seed were sold at a more affordable price to farmers. The observed adoption rate of 14% implies gaps in the potential adoption rates of 8%, 16%, and 33% because of a lack of awareness, a lack of seed access, and high seed prices, respectively. The findings underscore the role of both market and non-market-based approaches and the potential to further scale the cultivation of DTMVs in Uganda.

Crowdsourcing Field Observations from Smallholder Farmers in Tanzania Using Interactive Voice Response

The term crowdsourcing was first used in 2006 but the approach has been employed in various fields over a much longer period of time. The central idea is to collect information from a large number of people in order to achieve a common goal such as to increase knowledge, solve a problem or enhance the efficiency of a process. In the realm of research, crowdsourcing is closely connected with citizen science in which members of the public are engaged in a scientific project. In C17th England, the naturalist John Ray arranged for a large number of volunteers to collect specimens for him and there are datasets on the phenology of plants, birds and insects in England and in some other countries which provide a continuous record for hundreds of years. A current example of how non-specialists are helping to gather large quantities of biological data is the Breeding Bird Survey run by the British Trust for Ornithology which engages thousands of volunteers to submit records of over 200 bird species each year. Although crowdsourcing has been widely used in environmental monitoring there are few examples of its use in agriculture. This is surprising because there is a tradition of participatory approaches to agricultural research which have been developed in recent decades. The potential for harnessing large numbers of individual farmers to generate information on the performance of crop varieties in different locations was recently demonstrated through a triadic comparison of technologies. This was taken a stage further in a subsequent study in which a total of 12,409 farmers collected data on experimental plots of common bean (Phaseolus vulgaris) in Nicaragua, durum wheat (Triticum durum) in Ethiopia, and bread wheat (Triticum aestivum) in India. The results showed that expected effects of seasonal climatic variables on the performance of the crop varieties occurred and that these were generalizable across growing seasons. The authors concluded that their approach allows for more targeted recommendations for the deployment of crop varieties and that these may differ substantially from recommendations derived from current evaluation procedures in which testing is done at a limited number of sites. Crowdsourcing has tremendous potential for use in insect pest management. Up to date information on the distribution and abundance of insect pests of crops is needed for the development of appropriate management strategies. Field surveys can be used to identify locations where pest levels are high and sequential monitoring may help to establish seasonal patterns of occurrence. Surveys are also useful in monitoring the likely sources of migrant pests and recording their dispersal from these areas. When used in combination with other information such as climatic data, field surveys are an essential element of insect pest forecasting systems. In developing countries, field surveys are generally conducted by agricultural research and extension staff. Their main limitation is that they are labour-intensive and costly to carry out. Since resources of manpower and funds are limited, surveys are carried out infrequently and in restricted locations which may not be representative of the situation over larger areas. As a result national agricultural research and extension systems are constrained by having limited access to accurate information on the status of insect pests in different locations. This makes it difficult for them to respond to new threats such as the recent appearance and spread of the fall armyworm (Spodoptera frugiperda) in Africa where monitoring and early warning systems are crucial for effective control.