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Title SIMLESA Program Annual Report July 2011–June 2012
 
Names Mekuria, M.
Ngindi, A.
Dixon, J.
Date Issued 2012 (iso8601)
Abstract SIMLESA is a four-year (July 2010-December 2013) program funded by the Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research (ACIAR). The aim of SIMLESA program is to improve farm-level food security, in the context of climate risk and change, through the development of more resilient, profitable and sustainable farming systems that overcome food insecurity for significant numbers of farm families in eastern and southern Africa. SIMLESA promotes the use of adapted maize-legume technologies as well as improved varieties and develops comprehensive agronomic packages that increase productivity of maize-legume intercropping systems at farm level. The key focus areas of the project are farmer and stakeholder participation and economic evaluation of the new technologies. The program has an identical set of activities in Ethiopia, Kenya, Malawi, Mozambique and Tanzania. SIMLESA program is being managed by the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) - as the commissioned organization - in collaboration with the National Agricultural Research Systems (NARS) and private seed companies from the five SIMLESA implementing countries, the Association for Strengthening Agricultural Research in East and Central Africa (ASARECA), the International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT), Queensland Alliance for Agriculture and Food Innovation (QAAFI) in association with Queensland Department of Employment, Economic Development and Innovation,(QDEEDI/QAAFI-Australia), and Murdoch University in Western Australia. Technical support for national agencies is provided by partner institutions (CIMMYT, ACIAR, ASARECA, ARC-SA, ICRISAT, QAAFI and Murdoch University). Three baseline survey reports for Kenya, Ethiopia and Tanzania have been produced and writing of reports for Malawi and Mozambique is almost complete. Eight posters and eight scientific papers were developed and presented at the second SIMLESA Annual Review and Planning Meeting (ARPM) in March 2012 in Arusha, Tanzania. Draft farm typologies have been developed for Tanzania and Kenya. The program mounted 30 on-farms exploratory and 22 on-station trials, and 19 field days that were attended by 5948 participants, as planned under Objective 2. Yield increases from CA exploratory trials have varied from one region to another with increases ranging between zero and 30% over convectional farming practice. Yield increases within CA exploratory on-farm and on-station trials increased on average between 0 and 30% over the true farmer practice. Yields vary according to the seasonal rainfall distribution, soil type and farmer management practice. Local innovation platforms have been strengthened in the five countries to help farmer groups and partners exchange experiences and share knowledge among themselves and key stakeholders. Under Objective 3, the program established 50 sets of regional trials and mother baby trials (MBT) in collaboration with active 10 partner institutions. In addition, 19 maize and 18 legumes on station trials were conducted in the five SIMLESA countries. Materials under evaluation include drought tolerant varieties dispatched to SIMLESA target countries. ICRISAT supplied 104 medium, 245 long, and 37 short duration varieties of pigeonpea to Kenya, Malawi, Tanzania and Mozambique. Seed road maps were developed for each country with the active participation of local seed companies and public partners. Under Objective 4, the ASARECA-SIMLESA team conducted a gender mainstreaming training workshop in Arusha, Tanzania. The monitoring and evaluation (M&E) activities centred on further development of the M&E frameworks which included the results framework, the performance monitoring plan, the performance measurement framework and populating it with data from the field. Twenty-three NARS scientists participated in the M&E framework development workshop in Nairobi, facilitated by ASARECA. The technology inventory and knowledge transfers as well as spillover enabling conditions study was carried out. Under capacity building of Objective 5, a total of 77 NARS researchers participated in an ARC-SA coordinated and facilitated capacity building that targeted at three modules: Biometry; CA principles; Soil Science and Innovation Platforms for five days. Two NARS scientists from Mozambique and Tanzania attended an IRRI coordinated workshop held in Manila, Philippines in July-August 2011. An additional 4WD double cabin all-terrain vehicle was procured for the Mozambique SIMLESA country team. Various pieces of research equipment have already been purchased for the country teams and more are being procured. Six PhD candidates have been awarded the AusAID and ACIAR scholarships for 2012 while 30 candidates have enrolled for MSc and three for PhD in local universities under SIMLESA.
Genre Annual Report
Access Condition Open Access
Identifier http://hdl.handle.net/10883/4398