Improving Livelihoods in Rural West and Central Africa through Productive and Competitive Yam...

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Improving Livelihoods in Rural West and Central Africa through Productive and Competitive Yam Systems R. Asiedu, IITA

Transcript of Improving Livelihoods in Rural West and Central Africa through Productive and Competitive Yam...

Page 1: Improving Livelihoods in Rural West and Central Africa through Productive and Competitive Yam Systems R. Asiedu, IITA.

Improving Livelihoods in Rural

West and Central Africa through

Productive and Competitive Yam

Systems

R. Asiedu, IITA

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Goal

The yam sub-sector contributes to food security

and poverty reduction in West Africa

Purpose

Producers increase yield, reduce storage losses, and improve seed supply.

 

Processors and traders target markets for diverse yam products.

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IFAD-TAG 457

This is a follow-up to IFAD-TAG 457, which brought

together teams in each of five countries (Nigeria, Benin,

Togo, Ghana, and Côte d’Ivoire) to work on major

problems of yam production from 2000 to 2004.

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Objectives of TAG 457

Increase the availability of: •technologies for improving/maintaining soil

fertility and for managing pests (including

weeds) and diseases in a sustainable fashion

•improved varieties of the major cultivated

species of yams in West Africa

•improved postharvest technologies

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Principal Implementing Agencies•Centre National de la Recherche Agronomique

(CNRA), Cote d’Ivoire

•Crops Research Institute (CRI), Ghana

• Institut National des Recherches Agricoles du

Benin (INRAB), Benin

•Institut Togolais de Recherche Agronomique

(ITRA), Togo

•National Root Crops Research Institute (NRCRI),

Nigeria

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Collaboration with other institutes

•Centre de Coopération Internationale en Recherche

Agronomique pour le Développement (CIRAD), Benin

•Centre Suisse de Recherches Scientifiques (CSRS), Cote

d’Ivoire

•Natural Resources Institute (NRI), UK/ South Pacific Yam

Network (SPYN)

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Links with other Projects •Root & Tuber Improvement Programme (RTIP), Ghana

•Root & Tuber Expansion Programme (RTEP), Nigeria

•Programme pour Developpement des Racines et Tubercules

(PDRT), Benin

•Marketing and Local Initiatives Support Project, (PACIL), Cote

d’Ivoire

•INCO-Yam Postharvest Project (West Africa)

•IITA/GTZ/CSIR Seed Project (WASDU/WASNET)

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Germplasm

Evaluation of local landraces

Bénin: 150 accessions

C. d’Ivoire: 266 (141 D. alata & 125 D. rotundata)

Ghana: 251 (125 & 126)

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Germplasm Delivered by IITA to Partners

Country No. D. rotundata clones2000 2001 2002

Benin 234 0 11

C. d’Ivoire 73 3 20

Ghana 169 62 12

Nigeria 104 29 79

Togo 166 0 12

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Farmer participatory evaluation

Bénin: 19 farmers 41 genotypes 5 sites

C. d’Ivoire: 300 farmers 6 genotypes Ghana: 88 farmers, 48 genotypes, 3 districts

(on-farm) 90 farmers, 100 genotypes 3 sites (on-station)

Nigeria: 54 farmers, 54 genotypes, 6 states

Germplasm

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Varietal releases– Nigeria (3 in 2001; 4 in 2003)– Ghana (3 in 2005)– Cote d’Ivoire (first inspection)

Final stages of testing water yam in Nigeria for formal

release (at least 15 ADPs involved)

Germplasm

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Economic advantages of using healthy seeds in

yam cultivation (Togo, Nigeria)

Farmers’ Perceptions and factors associated

with willingness to adopt hot-water therapy for

disinfecting seed yams

Seed Health

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0

20

40

60

80

Germination Vigour Yield Ware yam Flesh quality

Worse

No difference

Better

Farmers' appreciation of effectiveness

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75

4450

41 41

19

6

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80%

Prod. Scale Fear Bulkiness Labour Equ. Cost Insuf.Income

Other

Constraints identified by participant farmers

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Process that led to the proposal

•workplan and progress review workshop at Parakou, north

Benin Republic in February, 2003 (coordinators of all three

root crop investment programs attended)

•in-country stakeholder workshops and document reviews

(organized in Ghana in April and Nigeria in May 2003 by

RTIP and RTEP, respectively)

•SC meeting at Umudike in June 2003 to produce

summary of priority areas for the proposal

•drafting and submission of proposal

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Participating Countries

The five countries in TAG 457 (Nigeria, Benin, Togo,

Ghana, and Côte d’Ivoire) and Cameroon

The addition of Cameroon, facilitated by knowledge of

formulation of a country programme on root and tuber

crops there, completed coverage of the ‘yam belt’.

These six countries account for 92% of the world’s

annual yam production of about 40 million metric tons

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Towards Implementation

Proposal approved in September 2004

Stakeholders’ workshop in November 2004

Call sent out in December 2004 for proposals for small grants from potential partners for execution of selected project activities

A three-member Research Advisory Committee (RAC) will apply published guidelines in evaluating proposals. The coordinator of PRONAF has already kindly agreed to serve on the committee to bring in some inter-TAG benefits.

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Criteria for assessment:

(i) co-financing by IFAD investment or other development projects

(ii) scientific quality,

(iii) clarity of strategy for participation of potential end-users (especially women and the poor) and for feedback,

(iv) feasibility of proposed sub-project within a three-year time frame,

(v) research attainment or experience of the researchers on the subject (multi-disciplinary and multi-institutional teams are preferred)

(vi) portability of value-added opportunities outside the Project area.

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TAG and Country Programmes

Joint planning and monitoring of activities plus co-financing

Technologies developed in the TAG will be much more likely to be tested and disseminated through the investment programmes.

5.3% of total TAG budget (ca. $26,000 per year) allocated to facilitating the links with IFAD investment projects.

Funds are allocated for national level coordination, including partial funding of national workshops on yams, in order to enhance in-country collaboration in yam research and development.