Declining soil fertility is one of the major problems facing producers of field crops in most dryland areas of Sub-Saharan Africa. In response to the declining soil fertility, extensive participatory research has been undertaken by the World Agroforestry (ICRAF) and smallholder farmers in Dodoma region, Tanzania. The research has, amongst others, led to the development of Gliricidia agroforestry technology. The positive impact of Gliricidia intercropping on crop yields has been established.

Wild food plants (WFPs) are often highly nutritious but under-consumed at the same time. This study aimed to document the diversity of WFPs, and assess perceptions, attitudes, and drivers of change in their consumption among Minangkabau and Mandailing women farmers in West Sumatra. We applied a mixed-method approach consisting of interviews with 200 women and focus group discussions with 68 participants. The study documented 106 WFPs (85 species), and Minangkabau were found to steward richer traditional knowledge than Mandailing.

Effective altruism is an ethical framework for identifying the greatest potential benefits from investments. Here, we apply effective altruism concepts to maximize research benefits through identification of priority stakeholders, pathosystems, and research questions and technologies.

One of the main problems for Ethiopian smallholder farmers is a general lack of reliable weather and climate forecasts. The lack of climate forecasting information becomes more and more challenging for smallholder farmers as the variability in weather increases, which results in an unpredictable and highly variable agricultural yield. To address this challenge, the first phase of the platform is to generate and provide relatively better-quality local weather forecasts.

This report summarizes the findings from the Organizational Midline Study (OMS) carried out in August-September of 2019 in Bagerhat, Bangladesh. The interviews were conducted with the same 10 organizations interviewed during the Organizational Baseline Study (OBS). The organizations are all still working directly with farmers in Bagerhat, Bangladesh.

Fonio (Digitaria exilis(Kippist)Stapf) and Bambara groundnut (Vigna subterranea(L.)Verdc.) are native crops grown at a small scale in Mali that have potential to support agricultural productivity under climate change. A community biodiversity management approach was explored in this study as a means to reinforce the cultivation of these crops by increasing farmers’ access to intraspecific diversity and developing capacities of community institutions for their management. The research involved six communities in Ségou and Sikasso regions.

Seed systems for vegetatively propagated crops (VPCs) are frequently governed by a regulatory blueprint designed for major cereal crops. This approach tends to disregard the distinct biological characteristics of VPCs, in turn limiting farmers’ access to high-quality planting material and increasing the risk of pest and disease transmission. In this paper, we ask what type of regulatory framework is appropriate for improving farmers’ access to quality VPC planting material, and what the costs, benefits, risks, and unintended consequences are of alternative regulations.

Maize remains one of the most important cereal crops grown in small-holder farming systems in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA)(Cairns et al., 2013). Its cultivation is generally characterized by limited input use and low yields. The low yields are often associated with low soil fertility, pest, and diseases, weeds, low and inappropriate use of inputs such as fertilizers (Sanchez, 2002).

One of the main problems for Ethiopian smallholder farmers is a general lack of reliable weather and climate forecasts. The lack of climate forecasting information becomes more and more challenging for smallholder farmers as the variability in weather increases, which results in an unpredictable and highly variable agricultural yield. To address this challenge, the first phase of the platform is to generate and provide relatively better-quality local weather forecasts.

Climate change is increasingly threatening the livelihoods of millions of smallholder farmers in Sub-Saharan Africa. Increased climate variability, including changes in mean temperatures, variation in the onset of rains, and increases in extreme weather events, are directly affecting the growing seasons of commercial and subsistence crops, significantly disturbing socio-economic activities in the agricultural sector and leaving many smallholder farmers in a situation of food insecurity and malnutrition.

In many African countries south of the Sahara, farmers depend on the cultivation of vegetatively propagated crops (VPCs) for both consumption and commercial purposes. Yet yields for these crops remain at low levels due, in part, to seed market imperfections that constrain farmers' access to improved varieties and high-quality planting material.