Regional Training on Climate-Smart Agriculture, Soil Fertility Management, and Soil Health Monitoring in Eastern and Southern Africa
WHEN SEP 23 - 27, 2024 EAT WHERE Mombasa, Kenya AICCRA is partnering with CIFOR-ICRAF and regional development and research organizations - Association for Strengthening Agricultural Research in Eastern and Central Africa (ASARECA), Centre for Coordination of Agricultural Research and Development for Southern Africa (CCARDESA) and Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) - and the DeSIRA-funded Land Soil Crop Hubs (LSC) project to further build the knowledge capacity of agricultural professionals across Central,...
Training on Genetic Resource Policies for Scientists in Agricultural Research Organizations.
Our partner-Alliance of Bioversity International and CIAT through the CGIAR Initiative on Genebanks is launching the second edition of the online training course 'Genetic Resources Policies for Agricultural Research Scientists’ starting from September 25 to 30th November, 2024.This course targets plant researchers and legal advisers working in national and international research and development organizations, including genebank staff, breeders, phytopatologists, bioinformaticians, seed system specialists and legal and policy experts. The course consists...
New report places productivity and access to healthy diets at the core of global food systems
By Ben Moses Ilakut Progress in addressing malnutrition has stalled in many parts of the world due the impacts of climate change and failure by Governments to provide adequate matching investments to operate the global food systems, a recently released report has shown. The report faults compounding crises, including the COVID-19 pandemic, rising food prices, natural disasters, and ongoing conflicts around the world for the stagnation. Demonstration of irrigated vegetable farm at...
Deploying Climate Smart Technologies to deal with impacts of El Nino rains in Kenya
By Ben Moses Ilakut & Genvieve Apio It an undisputed reality that Climate Change is a major challenge to agricultural productivity and food security globally. The devastating effects of climate change are manifested in many ways including El Nino rains, which are affecting several countries in Eastern and Central Africa. Photos above and below show how farmers in Machakos, Kenya were supported to prepare soil based on best agronomic recommendations and establish...
Tracing the impact of ASARECA supported Climate Smart Agriculture innovations in Kenya
By Ben Moses Ilakut Practically all countries in Eastern and Central African (ECA) depend largely on rain-fed agriculture for livelihoods. Much of the rainfall comes in a few high-intensity events with long dry spells in-between. This results into two catastrophic opposites--extreme episodes such as floods versus intense droughts with scotching heat. Farmers become risk averse Both episodes have the potential to reduce crop yields, sometimes, they cause total crop failure. In this predicament,...
Saving Sudan: Emergency food aid now, thereafter—back to Agricultural production
Ben Moses Ilakut Top international humanitarian and aid agencies including the World Food Programme (WFP), and the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) in the last few days called for emergency response to the food situation in Sudan following a declaration of famine in the Zamzam camp. Famine is a severe and widespread lack of food that leads to extreme hunger, malnutrition, and increased mortality in a population. Successful farming supported by ASARECA...
Urgent call for collective regional action against crop manace, Banana Bunchy Top Virus
By Ben Moses Ilakut When the deadly transboundary disease Banana Xanthomonas Wilt (BXW) ravaged the East African countries of Burundi, Kenya, Rwanda and Uganda in 2005 to 2010, it was only collective action by scientists from the concerned countries and the CGIAR, all coordinated by ASARECA, that brought the devastation to a halt. But before that, the disease had wreaked havoc, causing up 100% crop losses in hotspots of East Africa,...
Scaling up Virtual Irrigation Academy in Eastern and Central Africa
It is widely recognized that the provision of irrigation can help millions of smallholder farmers intensively cultivate their small parcels to improve income and better cope with climate induced uncertainties. However, the irrigation coverage in East and Central Africa is significantly lower than the global average. For instance, in sub-Saharan Africa, less than 5% of the cultivated land is irrigated, compared to a global average of about 20%. The challenges...
We are Hiring
The Association for Strengthening Agricultural Research in Eastern and Central Africa (ASARECA) is a not-for-profit inter-governmental organization of 15 member countries comprising Burundi, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Eritrea, Democratic Republic of Congo, Ethiopia, Federal Republic of Somalia, Madagascar, Kenya, Republic of Congo, Rwanda, South Sudan, Sudan, Tanzania, and Uganda. ASARECA’s core mandate is to coordinate regional agricultural research for development in partnership with NARIs. To achieve this mandate, ASARECA seeks to...
ASARECA, CIHEAM Bari, Water Land Resources Centre train Ethiopian farmers in selection of Agricultural Best Management Practices
BY BEN MOSES ILAKUT & MOSES ODEKE BAHIR DAR, ETHIOPIA: ASARECA, and the International Centre for Advanced Mediterranean Agronomic Studies-Institute of Bari (CIHEAM Bari) on April 19-20, 2024, joined Ethiopian partners, Water and Land Resources Centre in a follow-up training and selection of possible BMP scenarios workshop targeting farming communities in Koga catchment in Bahir Dar, Ethiopia. The workshop was intended to share knowledge among the farmers and technical teams supporting project...