Overview of Achievements, lessons and Challenges for Phase III

E Monyo on behalf of TL-II Team and Partners

TROPICAL LEGUMES-II PROJECT

Presented for the TL-III Stakeholder Project Planning Workshop 17 – 21 Nairobi, Kenya

TROPICAL LEGUMES - II:

A 10 year vision funded in 3 phases.

• Improve the livelihoods of smallholder farmers in drought-prone areas of Sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia through enhanced grain legume production and productivity

Specifically the Project targets:

• Enhance productivity of six legumes crops in the drought-prone areas of SSA and SA by at least 20%, by increasing availability and adoption of improved varieties and associated crop management practices

• specific vision :

– 20% increase in production and productivity;

– 30% of total area to be covered with improved varieties;

– Some 60 million poor farmers to benefit;

– Annual aggregate value of >US$ 300 million

– Organized into 9 objectives; 6 crop-specific (Obj 2-7), 2 (Obj 1 & 8) common across the crops, and one (Obj 9) on management.

TL-II Partnerships – A partnership involving three CGIAR centres, 15

national programs, the private sector and other R&D organizations.

– Project activities are in Burkina Faso, Ghana, Mali, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal, Ethiopia, Kenya, Malawi, Mozambique, Tanzania, Uganda and Zimbabwe in SSA and India and Bangladesh in SA

Obj – 1 Market opportunities, policies and partnerships Achievements

• Country strategies and seed road maps:

– For each variety a clear road map to impact

• Impact model reveal increased demand and supply of legume crops until 2050

– This positions legumes as a clear pathway to poverty reduction

• Project has lead to ↑ adoption of improved varieties in target countries

– Requires use of new methods to attribute impact to project interventions

• Increased awareness of supply and demand characteristics sought by farmers and industry

– This knowledge is being used to shape research priorities

LESSONS from OBJ 1

• Varietal change is already impacting on smallholder legume productivity and incomes (eg Ethiopia/Malawi)

• Based on the constraints analysis, soil problems, drought and diseases are the primary limitations on yield at present. Improved crop management must therefore play a role in legume production to meet the needs of food security

• Bio-physical scientists increasingly aware of variety supply and demand characteristics sought by farmers and industries

• Weak extension services and seed production and delivery schemes are the cause for slow uptake of improved varieties

• Low participation of private sector indicative of market failures and need for stronger public support in legume seed

Lessons from Obj 1 cont

• Access to land, HH wealth, access to information and labor saving devices are important drivers of adoption of new legumes varieties

• Market opportunities have dramatic influence on input use and yields

Obj 1 ISSUES Holding back success

• Limited physical and economic access to seed of improved varieties

– Weak seed production, delivery schemes and awareness creation

– Intervention to bridge the formal/informal seed systems

• Seed re-cycling is still widespread and national yields are below ideal levels

– Robust interventions in awareness creation and seed production and distribution

Obj Issues cont • Women farmer participation more prominent in some

countries than others.

• Private sector interest in legume seed industry remains low

– Need for critical analysis of public investments and institutional arrangements for credit and input supply

– Cost effectiveness of comparative interventions; comparative evidence of benefits and impacts of various seed system approaches

Obj 1 GAPS

• Capacity of partners in social economics research

• Limited knowledge on global legumes demand and supply

• Limited knowledge of existing legume seed markets

• Limited understanding of role and influence of gender on technology choice and diffusion

Obj 2 – 7 Enhancing Production and Productivity Achievements

• 129 New varieties of all six legumes released

• Newly released varieties are fast replacing the old ruling varieties in both SSA and SA

• Active legumes breeding programs are now operational in all target countries supporting crossing, nurseries, PVS trials needed to exploit genetic gain and deliver new varieties.

• 37 MSc and PhD’s were trained (Phase I) and 22 more are in training (Phase II).

Obj 2 – 7 LESSONS

• FPVS have been instrumental for identification and adoption of new varieties by farmers.

• Centralized breeding effort by CGIAR and partners and subsequent evaluations at national level is an efficient way for quick progress. Materials popular in one country are also generally popular in the other of similar agro-ecology.

• Complementary crop management practices, if promoted alongside improved crop varieties can help increase productivity

• Strengthened infrastructure and human skill instrumental for generation of accurate data and research success.

Obj 2 – 7 Enhancing Production and Productivity - Issues

• How to establish efficient and strong breeding pipelines at NARS centers

• How to increase efficiency in handling large breeding data sets (interpretation, documentation, use)

• How to best harness legumes capacity for N-fixation

• The aflatoxin challenge in groundnuts

Obj 2 – 7 Enhancing Production and Productivity - GAPS

• Capacity of partners

– breeding,

– infrastructure

– and financial resources

• Data management:

– Getting well curated data from different partners

Obj 2 – 7 Crop Improvement Gaps cont. • Integrated breeding by TL-II breeders.

– Adoption of this approach by TL-II breeders is not yet straight forward.

• Adoption of modern data handling tools and solutions. Still not all breeders are using the tools to create and populate their DB nor using the electronic fieldbook

Objective 8 – Seeds Systems Achievements

Seed (tons) produced across target countries, by crop and phase

Crop Phase I

(2007-2010)

Phase II

(2011-2013)

Total

Chickpea 82,381 111,553 193,934

Beans 9,030 18,451 27,481

Cowpea 604 1,510 2,114

Groundnut 11,977 15,685 27,662

Pigeonpea 921 3,644 4,565

Soybean 1,171 1,905 3,076

Total 106,084 152,748 258,832 Seed enough to serve 51.7 million smallholder farmers when distributed in 5kg small packs.

Economic gross benefits derived from the

adoption of TL2 modern varieties..

Crop Region amount of

additional $

Percent

total

Value

excluding SA

$

%

excluding

SA

Bean ESA 17,589,134.00 3.02%

17,589,134.0

0 6.10%

Cowpea WCA 9,494,800 1.63% 9,494,800 3.29%

ESA 1,163,750 0.20% 1,163,750 0.40%

Groundnut ESA 124,742,716 21.39% 124,742,716 43.25%

WCA 4,511,357 0.77% 4,511,357 1.56%

SA 8,666,041 1.49% 8,666,041 3.00%

Economic gross benefits derived from the

adoption of TL2 modern varieties..

Crop Region amount of

additional $

Percent

total

Value

excluding SA $

%

excluding

SA

Pigeonpea ESA 35,756,578 6.13% 35,756,578 12.40%

SA 24,317,902 4.17% 24,317,902 8.43%

Chickpea ESA 49,438,014 8.48% 49,438,014 17.14%

SA 294,782,738 50.55% 0.00%

Soybean WCA 3,602,081 0.62% 3,602,081 1.25%

ESA 9,107,189 1.56% 9,107,189 3.16%

Gross

benefits $ 583,172,300 100.00% 288,389,562 100.00%

Objective 8 Lessons

• A multi-crop approach is necessary to develop sustainable seed systems for Both farmers and seed companies

• Partnerships created through innovation platforms are likely to result into more effective and efficient seed systems

• Small seed packs is an efficient strategy for popularization of new varieties

• A strong effective diverse partnership is necessary for achieving wider dissemination of improved varieties

• Demand for specific varieties is linked to market use

Obj 8 (Seed Systems) LESSONS Cont

• New organizational arrangements are critical for up-scaling of seed production, as both formal and informal seed systems require partnerships with public agencies.

• More robust seed system-models are needed for up scaling adoption of new legume varieties (low commercial interest)

• The community seed banks can be scaled up using QDS as practiced in Tanzania

• The revolving fund approach as practiced in Malawi can be used to build sustainable partnerships with private sector based on local small seed companies.

ICRISAT Seed Revolving Fund 2005 – 2012 (TL-II started during 2007/08 season).

-

200,000

400,000

600,000

800,000

1,000,000

1,200,000

1,400,000

1,600,000

1,800,000

Basic Seed (kg)

Certified Seed (kg)

Objective 8 Lessons cont

• Public support and Truthful label are two important drivers of success by India which African nations can borrow and adapt

• Strong government policy support (India) has encouraged many small private companies entry into legumes seed production and marketing

Objective 8 Issues

• How to strengthen breeder/basic seed production outside the research stations

• Strategies for popularization of new varieties & shorten time lag between release and adoption

• How to leverage with other large seed investments outside TL-III for scaling up

• How to take advantage of the ICT revolution

Objective 8 GAPS • Non availability of improved seed contributes to continued

cultivation of obsolete old varieties

• Limited commercial perspective of legume seed hinders large scale participation of private sector seed companies

• Not enough investment in Variety popularization

• Linkage between seed systems and grain markets not well developed

• Inadequate risk management to maintain uninterrupted supply of seed incase of drought (lack of irrigation)

E

Funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation

THANKS