Pests and diseases greatly contribute to the decline in banana yields, food and income insecurity in the Great Lakes region of Africa. Understanding people’s role in pest and disease spread at landscape level is crucial for effective pest and disease management. To determine this, focus group discussions (FGDs) targeting 10 experienced farmers (50% female and 50% male) were conducted in 27 villages along four banana trade routes in western Burundi and eastern DR Congo. FGDs determined the

Seed conservation of banana crop wild relatives (Musa L. spp.) is limited because of lack of knowledge about their germination ecology. Musa acuminata Colla, the most important banana crop wild relative, is distributed in tropical and subtropical Asian and Pacific rainforests and colonizes disturbed sites. The role of temperature in stimulating/inhibiting germination to detect disturbance when canopy gaps are formed is not well known. We assessed seed germination thermal requirements of three subspecies of M.

The cassava system in Nigeria is developing, with increasing attention to its potential positive outcomes. However, credit access is a major problem in expanding productive activities of the different actors across the value chains of cassava products. This study investigates the extent of access to credit by cassava actors with respect to the different financial institutions in the country using data obtained from a sample of 168 actors, including producers, processors, marketers, fabricators and end users.

Extreme weather events cause considerable damage to livelihoods of smallholder farmers globally. Whilst index insurance can help farmers cope with the financial consequences of extreme weather, a major challenge for index insurance is basis risk, where insurance payouts correlate poorly with actual crop losses. We analyze to what extent the use of crop simulation models and crop phenology monitoring can reduce basis risk in index insurance.

Vegetables are rich in vitamins and other micronutrients and are important crops for healthy diets and diversification of the food system, and many traditional (also termed underutilized or indigenous) species may play a role. The current study analyzed 35 vegetables with a European

This report documents the key activities that were carried under the AgResults Aflasafe Pilot Project during the 2018/ 2019 maize-growing season on the verification process to trigger premium payments for successfully harvested and aggregated Aflasafeâ„¢-treated maize.

The Caribbean Farmers Network Inc. (CaFAN) is a registered not-for-profit organisation representing about 500,000 small-scale farmers in 15 Caribbean countries. The organisation’s secretariat is located in Kingstown, St. Vincent and the Grenadines. CaFAN conducted this joint impact study, commissioned by the Technical Centre for Agricultural and Rural Cooperation (CTA), to examine in-depth the impact of CTA funding and programme support to CaFAN. The findings are to contribute to learning for development impact within CTA and its ACP partner organisations and networks.

CTA’s support with partnerships since 2004 and valued at 932,958 Euros has enabled FANRPAN to raise its profile, increase awareness among a wider audience of its activities and projects, and improve the frequency and quality of its communication and advocacy products to policy-makers, Network members and FANR stakeholders. CTA’s support has largely been directed towards supporting FANRPAN’s communication and advocacy efforts, which are important aspects of the work of a policy research and knowledge network.

The fall armyworm, Spodoptera frugiperda, a moth originating from the American continent, has recently invaded most African countries, where it is seriously threatening food security as a pest of cereals. The current management methods rely heavily on the use of synthetic insecticides but there is a need for more sustainable control methods, including biological control. Surveys were conducted in two West African countries, Ghana and Benin, to determine the native parasitoid complex and assess parasitism rates of S. frugiperda. Samples of S.