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Title The SIMLESA Journey (2010-2014)
 
Names Mekuria, M.
Mashango, G.
Siamachira, J.
Date Issued 2015 (iso8601)
Abstract Maize and legume crops are important components in African farming systems. In addition to providing dietary foods, they provide cash income to smallholder farmers. Legumes also improve soil fertility through biological nitrogen fixation. Major legume crops include cowpea, common bean, soybean, pigeon pea and groundnut. While these crops are important in east and southern Africa, their production and productivity is limited by low adoption of the new and more productive varieties, shortage of and access to seeds and fertilizers, weak linkages of farmers to markets and limited knowledge and information transfer. To overcome these challenges, the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Centre (CIMMYT) and its partners launched the Sustainable Intensification of Maize-Legume Cropping Systems for Food Security in Eastern and Southern Africa (SIMLESA-I- 2010-2014) March 2010. The main goal of SIMLESA is to improve the production and productivity of maize and legumes to ensure food security. The program is funded by the Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research (ACIAR) and managed by CIMMYT, and implemented by national agricultural research systems in five partner countries – Ethiopia, Kenya, Tanzania, Malawi and Mozambique. Lessons from these five core countries are also implemented in other spillover countries of Botswana, Rwanda and Uganda. SIMLESA program falls under the African Food Security Initiative (AFSI), launched in 2009/2010 by the Australian Government to assist selected African countries reduce poverty and eliminate hunger as part of fulfilment of Millennium Development Goal Number 1 (MDG1). It is aligned within the African Union (AU) initiated and led made-in-Africa solution known as the Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Program (CAADP). CAADP was established as part of the New Partnership for Africa's Development (NEPAD), and endorsed by the African Union Assembly in July 2003. The main thrust of the SIMLESA program is increasing farm-level food security, productivity and incomes through promotion of maize-legume intercropping systems, in the context of reduced climate risk and change. Through participatory research and development with farmers, extension agencies, non-governmental organizations, universities and agribusinesses along the value chains, the program aims to improve maize and legume productivity by 30 percent and to reduce the expected downside yield risk by 30 percent on approximately 650,000 farm house holds by 2023. The first phase had five specific objectives; focussing on socio-economic aspects; agronomy practices, improving access to new maize and legume varieties; the development of regional and local innovation systems and on capacity building to increase the efficiency of agricultural research today and in the future. SIMLESA's first phase ended with its Fourth Annual Regional Review, Planning and Program Steering Committee meeting in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, on 7-11 April 2014. In July 2014, CIMMYY launched the second phase of SIMLESA (2014- 2018), which ACIAR is also funding. The program has laid down the foundation for developing conservation agriculture (CA) based sustainable intensification options, including integration of improved maize and legume varieties identified for their compatibility in CA practices; promoting technology adoption by both female and male farmers; capacity building for national agricultural research systems (NARS) of partner countries; the creation of enhanced partnerships and collaboration with established innovation platforms for a coordinated scaling out SIMLESA generated options and practices. In particular, SIMLESA had contributed to the release of 40 new maize varieties, which have yield advantages of 10 to 30 percent when compared to existing commercial varieties in its program countries. The program also trained more than 3,000 agricultural scientists in the maize and legume production value chains and engaged more than 40,000 farmers (almost half of them women) through farmer field days and exchange programs. The program is considered a flagship program and is being adopted by donors as a framework for sustainable intensification. SIMLESA has significantly contributed to the generation and adoption of user-preferred maize and legume technologies, as well as information and knowledge that improve system productivity and profitability of the target farming systems. SIMLESA's unique contributions, in terms of resource allocations; developing human capacity and research facilities to improve the efficiency and impact in agricultural research is highly recognized by our NARS partners.
Genre Report
Access Condition Open Access
Identifier http://hdl.handle.net/10883/4405