ASARECA and National Potato Council of Kenya firm-up collaboration to boost potato value chain
BY BEN MOSES ILAKUT KAMPALA, UGANDA—ASARECA and the National Potato Council of Kenya (NPCK) have formalized their partnership through a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU), especially to boost the performance of the potato value chain. Strategically witnessed by an Africa-wide audience attending the 13th Triennial African Potato Association (APA) Conference at the Speke Resort in Munyonyo, Kampala in Uganda, the two organizations inked the MoU during the Policy Dialogue to Review Implementation of...
ASARECA facilitates stakeholder review of Implementation of the East African Community Regional Seed Potato Strategy and Action Plan
BY BEN MOSES ILAKUT KAMPALA, UGANDA—The Minister of State, East African Community Affairs for Uganda, Hon. James Magode Ikuya has extolled the value of ASARECA in supporting its 15 Member States in harmonization of policies, guidelines and procedures for sharing Agricultural technologies and facilitating trade in the East African Community and the COMESA regions, thereby contributing substantially to their economies. In a statement read by the Under Secretary Ministry of the East...
Africa Potato Conference casts potato, sweet potato into continental spotlight for food & nutrition security, trade
BY BEN MOSES ILAKUT KAMPALA, UGANDA—Strong public private partnerships to crowd in dedicated investments into new potato varieties with a focus to commercialize them, aligning national policies to regional and international policies to stimulate market access, promoting a tripartite linkage for Government, the private sector and farmers (including extension services), mainstreaming the role of regional, sub-regional and continental organizations in shaping and guiding the focus in the conduct of agriculture on...
7th Africa-wide Agricultural Extension Week resonates the call for more investment and alignment of Extension to CAADP livelihoods goals
BY BEN MOSES ILAKUT LILONGWE, MALAWI — Commitment to: Domestic resource mobilization at national, Continental regional level; mobilization of women and youth as drivers of extension and advisory services delivery; building and nurturing coalitions; building a critical mass of extension and advisory services providers. These are some of the key demands emerging out of the 7th Africa-Wide Agricultural Extension Week 2025, a biannual event that converges experts and stakeholders in the...
ASARECA and ILRI Lead Regional Consultations to Co-Design Climate-Smart Legume Production Guidelines in Eastern Africa
BY BEN MOSES ILAKUT KIGALI, KAMPALA, NAIROBI & ADIS ABABA—In the first half of 2025, ASARECA, in collaboration with ILRI and partner projects including AICCRA and LEG4DEV, convened a series of national consultative workshops in Kenya, Rwanda, Ethiopia, and Uganda to co-design Climate-Smart Legume Production Guidelines and Manuals. These workshops were part of a broader initiative to strengthen climate-resilient legume value chains across Eastern Africa, focusing on both grain and forage...
ASARECA, KALRO scale out cutting edge potato innovations among Kenyan farmers, thanks to European Union, IFAD funding
BY BEN MOSES ILAKUT NAKURU & NAIVASHA, KENYA—ASARECA and Farm Inputs Promotions Africa ( FiPs-Africa) on April 28 to May 1 supplied cuttings of 26,000 farmer preferred potato varieties including Shangi, Unica, and Wanjiku, 200 kgs of fertilizer and assorted pesticides to farmers and stakeholders in Marioshoni, Elbergon in Nakuru County and Murungaru in Nyandarua county. ASARECA and partners KALRO, FIPs’ Africa, Egerton University and the National Potato Council of Kenya (NPCK)...
WATDEV Project Promotes Agroforestry and Water Management Best Management Practices for Resilient and Sustainable Agrifood systems in Tana River County Kenya
BY GENEVIEVE APIO 26 MARCH 2025 – TANA RIVER COUNTY, KENYA – Participants, mainly farmers from Hola Irrigation Farmers' Cooperative have received training in Best Agronomic Practices during an Innovation Roadshow and Exhibition convened by ASARECA and partners KALRO and CIHEAM-BARI. The event under the WATDEV project was aimed at showcasing technologies, innovations, and best practices to enhance the implementation of agroforestry and water management Best Management Practices (BMPs). The WATDEV project...
ASARECA and partners train Farmers on use of Digital Platforms, Certified Potato Seed, and Climate-Smart Innovations for Market Linkages in Kenya
BY GENEVIEVE APIO NYANDARUA & NUKURU, KENYA – MARCH 2, 2025 – In a transformative move to enhance market access and climate resilience among smallholder farmers, ASARECA, in collaboration with key partners, the National Potato Council of Kenya (NPCK), Egerton University, the Kenya Agricultural and Livestock Research Organization (KALRO), and agriBORA, have successfully trained farmers in digital literacy and climate-smart agricultural practices in Nyandarua and Nakuru counties, Kenya. The training, which took...
Call for Effective Partnerships, Political Will, Science and Innovation Dominate CGIAR Inaugural Science Week
BY BEN MOSES ILAKUT GIGIRI, NAIROBI, KENYA—Partnerships. Joint action. Collaboration. This semantic field, denoting effectively working together and underscoring the importance of leveraging competences and resources from multiple institutions and actors in the food systems resonated throughout the week-long CGIAR inaugural Science which just ended on April 12, at the United Nations Campus in Gigiri in the Kenyan capital, Nairobi. The event was dedicated to advancing science and innovation through the...
ASARECA, CIHEAM BARI, Land Resources Centre boost Ethiopian farmers capacity to sustain Water and Land productivity
BY BEN MOSES ILAKUT DEBRE ZEIT, ETHIOPIA—The Association for Strengthening Agricultural Research in Eastern and Centra Africa (ASARECA), the International Centre for Advanced Mediterranean Agronomic Studies-Institute of Bari (CIHEAM Bari) and the Italian Agency for Development Corporation (AICS) have joined Ethiopian partners, Water and Land Resource Centre (WLRC), Addis Ababa University, in a show of support in the Stakeholder Capacity Building Workshop on Best Management Practices (BMPs) and Innovation Roadshow Event...