A study was conducted in Rwanda to identify and characterize different banana market segments, with a focus on cooking and dessert bananas. The goal was to generate production and market-related information to inform the development of banana target product profiles (TPPs) for Rwanda, which can support crop development programs and other actors in meeting the needs of different end-users such as farmers, processors, and consumers.

Cocoa is an important commodity crop and source of income for millions of small-holder farmers. Nonetheless, questions on cocoa tree functioning, best management practices and climate change responses remain. Modelling is a powerful tool to address these questions, complementing experimental work that is expensive and time consuming due to the long productive cycle of the cocoa system. However, compared to other crops, cocoa modelling has not received as much attention.

Assam has rich soil and good natural resources for implementing climate-resilient agricultural practices to enhance potato production. Potato cultivation in the district occupies 1,03,812 hectares of land which, in 2015-2016, produced about 6,94,002 metric tons of potatoes as recorded by the Directorate of Economics and Statistics, Government of Assam1. This is quite low compared to the national average of 22 metric tons per hectare (NHB 2018).

Rice (Oryza sativa L.) is the staple food of more than 50% of the world’s population. Manual puddled transplanted rice (PTR) system is still the predominant method of rice establishment. However, due to declining water tables, increasing water scarcity, water, labor- and energy-intensive nature of PTR, high labor wages, adverse efects of puddling on soil health and succeeding crops, and high methane emissions, this production system is becoming less proftable. These factors trigger the need for an alternative crop establishment method.

Governments in countries in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) are keen to expand irrigation to improve food security and are placing particular emphasis on adoption and use of smallholder private groundwater irrigation. Yet private irrigation is a multi-stage technology, the adoption of which is affected by fiscal support and extension services offered on different investment stages but also by uncertainties around actions that need to be undertaken in these stages.

India is an agriculturally based nation, and a significant portion of its
livestock sector is controlled by women. Women have a lot of options to
increase their income by working in the livestock sector. Livestock
provides meat, milk, eggs, and other food products, which are generally
considered key assets for rural livelihood, that are dietary staples for
population. For the women's livelihood and to help ensure the food security
of the household, livestock is a crucial non-land productive asset. The tiny,

Specialization and intensification of agricultural systems and the search for profit have guided the evolution of agriculture to new farming models emerging to respond to a growing demand for food, despite the complementary relationships between crops and livestock farming activities which have been documented in many studies. This trend has increased the vulnerability of farms to shocks, decrease land productivity and impair water use efficiency.

Application of biocontrol products containing atoxigenic isolates of Aspergillus flavus to reduce aflatoxin content in crops is an effective strategy for managing aflatoxin in several regions throughout the world. We report the development and validation of two aflatoxin biocontrol products, Aflasafe TZ01 and Aflasafe TZ02, for use in maize and groundnut in Tanzania, a country frequently affected by aflatoxin contamination. Each product contains four atoxigenic A. flavus genotypes native and widely distributed in Tanzania.

Agriculture is a sector that is very vulnerable to the effects of climate change while contributing to anthropogenic greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions to the atmosphere. Therefore, applying Climate-Smart Agriculture (CSA) technologies and practices (referee hereafter as CSA technologies) that can sustainably boost productivity, improve resilience, and lower GHG emissions are crucial for a climate resilient agriculture. This study sought to identify the CSA technologies used by farmers and assess adoption levels and factors that influence them.

Transformation of knowledge systems and fostering learning among smallholder farmers such as through participatory action research (PAR) is key to agricultural growth in rural sub-Saharan Africa. We investigate how PAR influences uptake/use of integrated soil fertility management (ISFM) while accounting for gendered, bonding and bridging social capital. Stratified by engagement in a mother-baby PAR and by resource endowments, 607 smallholder farmers were sampled from northern Tanzania.

Community Markets for Conservation (COMACO) is a social enterprise with a mission to work with communities to secure a better life and become good stewards of their natural resources. COMACO finances enhanced climate-smart agricultural practises through the adoption of a legume-based farming system and agroforestry that increase crop yields.

CONTEXT
Cereal-legume intercropping, a common practice among farmers in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), is important for crop diversification, soil fertility improvement, household nutrition and climate adaptation. However, cereals often outcompete the intercropped legumes for growth resources resulting in low legume yields.
OBJECTIVE