Regis Chikowo and Hannah Livuza

REPORT ON THE COMBINED R4D PLATFORMS-RESEARCHERS FIELD TOUR TO AFRICA RISING SITES IN LINTHIPE, DEDZA DISTRICT

1 SUMMARY

Africa RISING organized a field tour to one of the interventions sites in Malawi, Linthipe Extension Planning Area, (EPA) in Dedza district on January 22nd 2016. The tour was intended to create an opportunity for R4D platform stakeholders for both Dedza and Ntcheu districts to interact more closely with researchers. The tour was attended by Lilongwe University of Natural Resources and Agriculture (LUANAR), ICRAF, CIAT, and MSU researchers who are active on Africa RISING. There was also a representative from the Department of Research Services (DARS) in the Ministry of Agriculture and Water Development (MoAIWD). The tour was also a preparatory activity for the project review to take place in February 2016. During the tour, the partners visited a dairy farmer who is using fodder trees to produce feed for his livestock to improve milk production, trials under ICRAF where agroforestry trees are intercropped with maize and other crops to assess their contribution to soil fertility, CIAT trials on the agronomy of common bean, LUANAR which are now in the fourth year. Below are the details of the tour.

2 DISCUSSION

GRADUATE STUDENTSAfrica RISING supported students made presentation on the progress of their research in the AR intervention areas.

Khumbo Mhango (MSc in Human Nutrition): Her research aims to find out whether nutrition education and milk processing contribute to improved nutrition status of under-five children among households involved in dairy farming. In this research, households will be trained in the processing of diversified milk products and will also be provided with information on the benefits of milk consumption. The study results will base on the proportion of children consuming milk and milk products, frequency of milk and milk products consumption, differences in children growth and differences in weight gain in children consuming and not consuming milk and milk products. The study will be conducted in Dedza district among Chitsanzo and Dzaonewekha milk bulking groups.

1

Charles Mkhutche (MSc in Animal Science): The study’s main objective is to evaluate various feed resources for goats and assess the constraints on goat production in order to appropriately respond to the need of smallholder goat farmers. The study has two experiment sites, an on-farm experiment where smallholder farmers will be trained in goat feed collection, formulation and preservation as well as goat management and disease control and treatment. Another experiment site will be set on-station at Bunda campus where the same treatments will be carried out with the aim of managing errors associated with on-farm resaerch. The study expects to produce information on nutritive values of Faidhebia albida and Grilicidia sepium to reduce anti-nutrition factors as well as experience weight gains among the goats fed with feed from the 2 fodder trees. The on farm experiments are being will be carried out in Dedza in Golomoti EPA.

Haswel Mulenga (MSc in Nutrition and Food Science): The study aims to find out whether gender roles have any effects on household utilization of legumes for complementary feeding among children within the age range of 6 to 23 months. The expected outcomes from the study include a training on the effect of gender on legume utilization for complementary feeding with more emphasis on child nutrition feeding indicators such as minimum acceptable diets and meal frequencies, a training on proper storage, marketability and legume budgeting and promotion of recipes for complementary feeding through nutrition education among others. The study is being conducted among AR beneficiary households in Ntcheu and Dedza districts.

Peter Chimangeni (MSc in Agronomy): The study investigates the effect of spatial arrangement (crop densities) on soil fertility and overall grain yield of pigeon peas, groundnuts and soybeans in doubled-up legume systems in different agro ecological zone in Dedza and Ntcheu districts. The research project is being implemented on farmers’ field within AR project catchment area where different treatment combinations have been applied. The study involves two pairs of intercropping systems: soya bean-pigeon peas intercrop and groundnuts-pigeonpea intercrops.

Photo 1. Charles Mkhutche presenting his research proposal to the R4D platform members at Linthipe EPA.

2

DAIRY FARMINGICRAF is one of the partners implementing activities under AR project. The team visited one of the dairy farmers, Mr. Nelson Kambuku, under Dzaonewekha milk bulking group to appreciate the activities being undertaken through the support of Africa RISING. Dzaonewekha bulking group was founded in 1994 and currently farmers are milking 115 cows. ICRAF is working with the group to promote sustainable livestock production and specifically targeting reducing the challenges of availability of feeds for lactating cows in order to improve milk productivity through the use of feed supplements from the production of agroforestry trees such as Leucaena pallida.

Photo 2: Two breeds of dairy cows that yield between 20-25 litres of milk per cow. High quality fodder is improving milk productivity.

The farmer conveyed appreciation to Africa RISING for the training in feed preservation and feed formulation from agroforestry trees. The farmer also mentioned that the preserved feed minimizes the challenges of feed scarcity during the dry season when they can no longer have readily available leaves to make feed for their livestock. Another benefit of agroforestry trees as expressed by the farmer was the availability of fuel wood from the stems of the trees. The team also visited Mr. Kambuku’s Leucaena pallida field where he harvests fodder. While the whole group has over 200 farmers, only 72 farmers are benefiting as some farmers have lost their cows due to diseases.

MAIZE-TEPHROSIA-PIGEONPEA EXPERIMENTSFrom the dairy farmer, the team proceeded to a trial being managed by ICRAF farmer, Mr. Zagwa Janga of Ungwe village where the main aim is to investigate the contribution of tephrosia

3

to soil health. Since the farmers in the area were already growing pigeon peas and beans in a bid to improve soil health, ICRAF developed treatment combinations that incorporated both the new tephrosia idea and the pigeon peas and beans cropping systems. These combinations are being tried out to find out which combination could bring out optimal benefits to crops for improved crop productivity through soil health improvement. All treatments are being tried out in a maize field.

Fhoto 3. R4D stakeholders and farmers visited the maize-tephrosia-pigeonpea and bean intercrop mother trial. The field shows clear differences in the performance of maize under different treatments.

BEAN AGRONOMY WORKCIAT is another partner visited during the tour. CIAT is implementing bean integration, which aims at evaluating dwarf, and climbing beans performance under different cropping systems and nutrient management regimes in Linthipe and Kandeu EPAs in Dedza and Ntcheu districts respectively. The research aims at testing the effect of different nutrient combinations to both crop productivity and soil health, which is being tested in both sole bean production, and intercrops of maize and beans. Additionally, the research is testing the performance of the different bean varieties in relations to their drought tolerance as well as their performance in different agro ecological zones in order to find the best-fit nutrient and crop combinations as well as varieties. During the tour, the team visited the mother trial field hosted by Irene Evason in Ungwe village.

4

Photo 4: Mr Gift Ndengu (CIAT) giving more insights into the trial treatments from a technical point of view

DOUBLED-UP LEGUME TECHNOLOGY REFINING EXPERIMENTSThe team also visited one of the trials under doubled up legume cropping system being hosted by one the students from LUANAR. The student is investigating optimal combinations of components in doubled-up system, with the aim of reducing further the intra-specific competition, increase land productivity and sustainability. The crops being used for the trials include sole cropping of soya, pigeon peas and groundnuts as well as intercrops of soya/pigeon peas and groundnuts /pigeon peas.

Photo 5: Dr. Regis Chikowo (AR/MSU) explaining more on doubled-up system and its benefits (groundnuts/pigeon peas intercrop)

5

3 ISSUES

I. The erratic rainfall pattern being experienced due to El Nino effects affected germination of most of the crops especially Soya bean in all AR sites.

II. The continued dryspell is also affecting the crops growth especially beans and soybeans as well as increasing the infestation of termites in the fields.

III. Cowpea leaves have been attacked by aphids however chemicals have already been delivered to the sites

IV. Top dressing N fertilizer application (urea fertilizer) has been delayed due to the prolonged dry spell.

Challenges for 2016 cropping season: Photo story

Photo 6. Maize and common bean both wilting in an intercrop in a farmers’s field due to a week dry spell

Photo 7. Well prepared ridges but no crops mid January 2016. Some farmers failed to plant due to insufficient rainfall

6

LIST OF PARTICIPANTS

Photo 8. Drought…in Nsipe Ntcheu)..10 January 2016

Photo 9. Drought in Linthipe promoted proliferation of ants that are destroying soyabean crop in a framers’ field (22 January 2016)

7

No NAME ORGANISATION

8

1 Regis Chikowo Africa RISING/ MSU2. Hilda Kabuli DARS3. Khumbo Mhango LUANAR4. Haswell Mulenga LUANAR5. Charles Mkhutche LUANAR6. Peter Chimangeni LUANAR7. Ibrahim Mwale MoAIWD8. Alfred Silibonde MoAIWD9 Beaton Kamanga MoAIWD10. Mireille Mkandawire MoAIWD11. Jecknar Phiri MoAIWD12. Anily Msukwa MoAIWD13. Esau Mwazani MoAIWD14 Charles Kachokammanja MoAIWD15. Joyce Njoloma ICRAF16. Godfrey T.M. Chisusu ICRAF17. Powell Mponela CIAT18. Paulosi Phonya Farmer19. Peter Msowoya Farmer20. Ruth Chimbenji MoAIWD21. Alick Nyirenda MoAIWD22 Edith Ngwaya MoAIWD23. Martha Kumwela MoAIWD24. Gift Ndengu CIAT25. Maxwell Khudze MoAIWD26. A.M. Nthala MoAIWD27. T.H. Banda MoAIWD28. O.J.S. Kumwenda MoAIWD29. Memory Khonya CUMO30. Lusayo Biton MoAIWD31. Mary Bowa CADECOM32. Mathilda Miona MEDF33. Gladson Chatayika World Vision34. George Banda ARET35. Ozions Nkhuzenje ACE36. Blessings Kambombo CU37. Gilson Viadycra CU38. Hannah Livuza Munthali Africa RISING/MSU

9