Putting nitrogen fixation to work for smallholder farmers in Africa

Putting Nitrogen Fixation to

Work for Smallholder Farmers

in Africa

N2Africa

Putting nitrogen fixation to work for smallholder farmers in Africa

• The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation awarded

the four year grant to Wageningen University,

September 2009

• CIAT-TSBF and IITA are subcontractors leading

the implementation of the project partnering with

NARS, NGOs, CBOs, in the 8 countries: Nigeria,

Ghana, Kenya, Rwanda, DR Congo, Zimbabwe,

Malawi and Mozambique

• Main crops: soybean, groundnut, cowpea and

common bean – and legume forages

Putting nitrogen fixation to work for smallholder farmers in Africa

N2Africa Action Sites

Putting nitrogen fixation to work for smallholder farmers in Africa

N2Africa: Research & development

Development: making best varieties,

inoculants, agronomic practices available

to farmers, market linkages

Research: on agronomy, rhizobiology and

unique opportunity for comparative

research between 8 countries

Putting nitrogen fixation to work for smallholder farmers in Africa

Why legumes?

Legumes have great potential to address soil

fertility problems in Sub-Saharan Africa, linking

protein & nitrogen needs of African farmers

Presents a mechanism of renewable soil fertility

management through N2-fixation and crop

rotations

Provides farmers with improved nutrition options

and income-generating crop production

enterprises

Putting nitrogen fixation to work for smallholder farmers in Africa

Vision of success

To raise legumes yields by 954 kg/ha, to

increase average BNF by 46 kg/ha, and

to increase average incomes by $465,

benefiting 225,000 households

(1,800,000 individuals) from Nigeria,

Ghana, DRC, Kenya, Rwanda, Malawi,

Mozambique, Zimbabwe.

Putting nitrogen fixation to work for smallholder farmers in Africa

• Increase the area of land cropped with legumes

• Increase legume productivity - agronomy and P

fertilizer

• Select better legume varieties

• Select better rhizobium strains and inoculate

• Link to markets and create new enterprises to

increase demand for legumes

Increase of overall legume production:

Putting nitrogen fixation to work for smallholder farmers in Africa

Objectives

1. Establish a baseline of the current status of N2-

fixation, identify farm enterprises and niches

for targeting N2-fixing legumes in the impact

zones, and establish mechanisms for

monitoring and evaluation (M&E) and impact

assessment

2. Identify and field-test multi-purpose

legumes that provide income, food, animal

feed, and high quality crop residues with

enhanced N2-fixation and integrate improved

varieties into farming systems

Putting nitrogen fixation to work for smallholder farmers in Africa

Objectives

3. Collect and characterize superior rhizobia

strains for enhanced N2-fixation and develop

inoculum production capacity in sub-

Saharan Africa through collaboration with

private sector partners

4. Deliver legumes, inoculant technologies and

associated N2-fixation technologies to farmers

throughout sub-Saharan Africa

5. Develop and strengthen capacity for N2-

fixation research, technology development, and

application

Putting nitrogen fixation to work for smallholder farmers in Africa

Putting nitrogen fixation to work for smallholder farmers in Africa

Putting nitrogen fixation to work for smallholder farmers in Africa

Utilization of inputs (West Kenya)

With P Without P

Putting nitrogen fixation to work for smallholder farmers in Africa

control +Pfert +ino +Pfert+ino

Putting nitrogen fixation to work for smallholder farmers in Africamaize following maize maize following climbing beans

Putting nitrogen fixation to work for smallholder farmers in Africa

Central-East Africa (DRC, Rwanda, W-Kenya):- Farmers planted for 2nd time

West Africa (Ghana, Nigeria):- Farmers planted in June/July – harvesting

Southern Africa (Malawi, Mozambique, Zimbabwe):- 1st growing season is about to begin, lead farmers have been

trained, inputs are being distributed

Progress

Putting nitrogen fixation to work for smallholder farmers in Africa

Putting nitrogen fixation to work for smallholder farmers in Africa

Monitoring & Evaluation

• Characterization of impact zones

Putting nitrogen fixation to work for smallholder farmers in Africa

N2Africa Impact Zones

Putting nitrogen fixation to work for smallholder farmers in Africa

Putting nitrogen fixation to work for smallholder farmers in Africa

Monitoring & Evaluation

• Characterization of impact zones

• Baseline survey (400 HH in 8 countries, gender

disaggregated data, some qst on decision making,

control of harvests, etc)

• In-depth income & nutrition – still to be done

• Detailed farm characterizations

Putting nitrogen fixation to work for smallholder farmers in Africa

Monitoring & Evaluation

Participatory farmer evaluations of trials &

demo‟s

Putting nitrogen fixation to work for smallholder farmers in Africa

• Participatory farmer evaluations of trials &

demo‟s

• M&E indicators & development of instruments

• Developing tools for evaluating dissemination

approach (adoption)

Monitoring & Evaluation

Putting nitrogen fixation to work for smallholder farmers in Africa

Gender – where does it come in?

• Legumes considered to be “women‟s crops” in

many places in Africa

• Legumes often have direct impact on household

nutrition

• Opportunities to engage women in processing &

marketing

• Crucial importance of „gender‟ is recognized by

participating organisations & donor, but….

Putting nitrogen fixation to work for smallholder farmers in Africa

But….

• Insufficient expertise at level of project staff

• Diversity across countries need for very

context-specific strategies

• Profit making processing cq marketing offers

opportunities but also at risk to be taken over by

men – no strategies in place (yet) to address this

challenge

• Late action on gender – part of the project

proposal & activities, but no „action-priority‟ on

gender

Putting nitrogen fixation to work for smallholder farmers in Africa

Assets

• Framework is useful - stimulated us to look at

N2Africa from a different perspective

Putting nitrogen fixation to work for smallholder farmers in Africa

www.n2africa.org