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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"a96b27a6aa57ddcc10fa2e768a357649","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/9cec84be-490c-46f4-9b5c-e5e882e72c8d/retrieve","id":"-1602234965"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"51ef28fc-730f-4e2b-8e49-bba39237ca21","content":"!!!\"!!!\" !!!\"!!!\" !!!\"!!!\" !!!\"!!!\" !!!\"!!!\"!!!\"!!!\" !!!\"!!!\"!!!\"!!!\" !!!\"!!!\"!!!\"!!!\" !!!\"!!!\"!!!\"!!!\"!!!\"!!!\" !!!\"!!!\"!!!\"!!!\"!!!\"!!!\" !!!\"!!!\" !!!\"!!!\" !!!\"!!!\" !!!\"!!!\" !!!\"!!!\"!!!\" !!!\"!!!\"!!!\" !!!\"!!!\"!!!\" !!!\"!!!\"!!!\"!!!\"!!!\"!!!\" !!!\"!!!\"!!!\"!!!\"!!!\"!!!\" !!!\"!!!\" !!!\"!!!\" !!!\"!!!\" !!!\"!!!\"!!!\" !!!\"!!!\"!!!\"!!!\"!!!\" !!!\"!!!\"!!!\"!!!\"!!!\" !!!\"!!!\"!!!\"!!!\"!!!\" !!!\"!!!\"!!!\"!!!\"!!!\"!!!\"!!!\" !!!\"!!!\"!!!\"!!!\"!!!\"!!!\"!!!\"!!!\"##\"##\"##\"##\" ##\"##\" !!!\"!!!\"!!!\"!!!\"!!!\" !!!\"!!!\"!!!\"!!!\"!!!\" !!!\"!!!\"!!!\"!!!\"!!!\" !!!\"!!!\"!!!\"! !!!\"!!!\"!!!\" !!!\"!!!\"!!!\" !!!\"!!!\"!!!\" !!!\" ##\" !!!\"!!!\"!!!\"!!!\"!!!\" !!!\"!!!\"!!!\"!!!\"!!!\" !!!\"!! ##\"##\" !!!\"!!!\"!!!\"!!!\"!!!\" !!!\"!!!\"!!!\"!!!\"!!!\" !!!\"!!!\"!!!\" ##\"##\"##\" !!!\"!!!\"!!!\"!!!\"!!!\" !!!\"!!!\"!!!\"!!!\"!!!\" !!!\"!!!\"!!!\"!!!\"!! ##\"##\"##\"##\" !!!\"!!!\"!!!\"!!!\"!!!\" !!!\"!!!\"!!!\"!!!\"!!!\" !!!\"!!!\"!!!\"!!!\"!!!\" !!!\" ##\"##\"##\"##\" ##\" !!!\"!!!\"!!!\"!!!\"!!!\" !!!\"!!!\"!!!\"!!!\"!!!\" !!!\"!!!\"!!!\"!!!\"!!!\" !!!\"!!!\"!! ##\"##\"##\"##\" ##\"##\" !!!\"!!!\"!!!\"!!!\"!!!\" !!!\"!!!\"!!!\"!!!\"!!!\" !!!\"!!!\"!!!\"!!!\"!!!\" !!!\"!!!\"!!!\"!!!\"!"}

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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"953f1179f0f9460ea1f2956db20c8ce9","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/56b6a1b3-315b-4d47-a008-aee30295eb87/retrieve","id":"-1464949908"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"b82e72a4-c893-4faf-a058-984e9e87bb10","content":"Programme evaluation is the systematic collection of information about the activities, characteristics, and outcomes of programmes 1 so as to make judgments about the programme, improve programme effectiveness and/or inform decisions about future programming. Utilization-focused programme evaluation, or more simply utilization-focused evaluation (UFE), is done for and with specific, intended primary users for specific, intended uses. This ILAC Brief provides a brief introduction to UFE. Readers interested in additional information on the reasons for adopting a utilization-focused approach to evaluation, the logic of the approach, and detailed methods for implementing it are referred to the fourth edition of Utilization-focused evaluation (Patton, 2008).Evaluation use is too important to be merely hoped for or assumed. Use must be planned for and facilitated. Therefore, utilization-focused evaluators design evaluations and facilitate their implementation carefully considering how everything that is done, from beginning to end, will affect use. The focus in UFE is on intended use by intended users.UFE requires moving from the general and abstract to the real and specific -from possible audiences and potential uses to actual, primary intended users and concrete, specific uses. The evaluator facilitates decision-making by intended users rather than acting simply as an independent judge. UFE is highly personal and situational. The evaluator develops a working relationship with intended users and helps them determine what kind of evaluation they need. The evaluator offers a menu of possibilities and highlights the effects that specific methods might have on the evaluation process and results. But s/he does not depend on or advocate any particular evaluation focus or method, theory, or even use. Rather, s/he works with primary intended users to select the most appropriate evaluation focus, design, methods and uses for their particular situation.In considering the rich and varied menu of evaluation, UFE can include any evaluative purpose (summative, formative, or developmental), any kind of data (quantitative or qualitative), any kind of design (ranging from naturalistic to experimental) and any kind of focus (e.g. on programme design, implementation, or results). UFE offers a process for making decisions about these issues in collaboration with an identified group of primary users focusing on the intended uses of the evaluation.A psychology of use underpins and informs utilization-focused evaluation. Research on evaluation use (cf. Patton, 2008) has revealed that:Intended users are more likely to use evaluations if they understand and feel ownership of the evaluation process and findings They are more likely to understand and feel ownership if they've been actively involved By actively involving primary intended users, the evaluator is preparing the groundwork for use.To target an evaluation on the information needs of a specific person or group of identifiable persons is quite different from what has been traditionally recommended as 'identifying the audience' for an evaluation. Audiences are amorphous, anonymous entities. Nor is it sufficient to identify an agency or organization as a recipient of the evaluation report. People, not organizations, use evaluation informationthus the importance of what we call the personal factor (Box 1).1 Utilization-focused evaluation for agricultural innovationUtilization-focused evaluation (UFE) is based on the principle that an evaluation should be judged by its utility. So no matter how technically sound and methodologically elegant, an evaluation is not truly a good evaluation unless the findings are used. UFE is a framework for enhancing the likelihood that evaluation findings will be used and lessons will be learnt from the evaluation process. This Brief, based on the book Utilization-focused evaluation, introduces this approach to evaluation, outlines key steps in the evaluation process, identifies some of the main benefits of UFE, and provides two examples of UFE in the context of programmes aimed at promoting agricultural innovation.Studies of evaluation use have looked at the importance of a long list of factors that may affect the use of evaluation results. These factors include the quality and appropriateness of methods, timeliness, positive or negative findings, political factors, resources available and interactions between evaluators and decision makers (Patton, 2008: Chapter 3). Results have highlighted two key groups of factors: (1) political considerations, and (2) what we refer to as the personal factor.The personal factor refers to the presence of an identifiable individual or group of people who genuinely care about the evaluation and its findings. Where such a person or group is actively involved with and interested in an evaluation, the results are more likely to be used. When the personal factor is absent, the evaluation is less likely to be used and to have an impact. When the personal factor emerges, when some individuals take direct, personal responsibility for getting findings to the right people, evaluations have an impact.The importance of the personal factor leads directly to UFE's emphasis on working with intended users to specify intended uses. The personal factor directs us to attend to specific people who understand, value and care about evaluation, and further directs us to attend to their interests. This is the primary lesson the profession has learned about enhancing use.While concern about utility drives a UFE, the evaluator must also attend to the evaluation's accuracy, feasibility and propriety (Joint Committee on Standards for Educational Evaluation, 1994). As the evaluator negotiates with intended users, whether the evaluator is internal or external, whether the relationship with intended users is a new or longstanding one, and regardless of the primary purpose (e.g. programme improvement or accountability), the evaluator is mindful of both the evaluation's credibility and the evaluator's credibility. These are integrally linked. The evaluator represents the larger profession and is expected to adhere to its standards as a matter of professionalism but also because credibility is critical to use. Evaluations that are fair and balanced are more credible and therefore more likely to be useful -and actually used. This sometimes means that evaluators must help intended users see why it is in their own best long-term interest to have high quality, credible evaluations that report on both strengths and weaknesses.Steps in the UFE processThe first step in UFE is to identify potential users of the evaluation. It's important to explicitly identify key stakeholders of the evaluationpeople who can use or are likely to be affected by the evaluation, either positively or negatively. To identify stakeholders, it's useful to ask three questions:Who knows about the programme to be evaluated? Who cares about the programme to be evaluated? Who can use the evaluation to change the programme?In any evaluation, there are many possible stakeholders, including programme funders, managers, staff, programme participants, and clients. Since no evaluation can answer all possible questions for all stakeholders, priorities need to be set. The UFE process begins by narrowing the list of potential stakeholders to a specific group of primary intended users whose interests and information needs focus the evaluation.Selecting a set of primary intended users is an inherently political process, in which the evaluator and the evaluation contractor need to balance concerns for openness, participation and empowerment on the one hand, with concerns for practicality and feasibility on the other.An important task for the utilization-focused evaluator is to make the person(s) who are requesting or contracting for the evaluation aware of the diverse groups of stakeholders and the potential benefits (and drawbacks) of involving them directly in the evaluation process, as primary intended users. Expanding the range of stakeholders directly responsible for the evaluation helps ensure that the evaluation will be useful for the groups they represent. But it also increases the cost and complexity of the evaluation. Ultimately, the evaluation contractor must decide on the breadth of stakeholder involvement s/he wishes to pursue. Where possible, intended users, representing diverse stakeholder groups, are brought together in some way (for example, in an evaluation task force), to work with the evaluator and share in making major decisions about the evaluation.Once a set of primary intended users has been identified, the next step is for the evaluator to gain their commitment to a set of intended uses of the evaluation and determine the focus of the evaluation, which might be summative, formative, or developmental (Box 2).Prioritizing and selecting a short list of key evaluation questions generally involves considering the relative importance of focusing on the adequacy of the programme's theory of action, programme implementation, achievement of objectives, programme impacts, or sustainability of the intervention or its results. The evaluator works with intended users to determine priority issues and evaluation uses, paying attention to political and ethical considerations. S/he also helps the group appreciate the time and resources that will be needed to undertake a UFE, and to ascertain their readiness to participate in the evaluation. In a style that is interactive and situationally responsive, the evaluator helps intended users answer the following types of question:\"Given the available resources and expected uses, is the evaluation worth doing?\" \"Are we as a group ready to make the investment of time and effort needed to conduct a useful evaluation?\" \"To what extent are we committed to using the results of the evaluation?\"The third overall stage of the UFE process concerns methods, measurement and design decisions. Primary intended users are involved in making methods decisions so that they fully understand the strengths and weaknesses of the findings. A variety of options may be considered, including the use of: Qualitative vs. quantitative data and methods Naturalistic, experimental, or quasi-experimental designs Purposeful or probabilistic sampling approaches Greater or lesser emphasis on generalizations (vis-à-vis contextspecific conclusions and recommendations) Alternate ways of dealing with potential threats to validity, reliability and utility.In some settings (for example in agricultural research organizations with strong bio-physical research traditions), potential users may have a strong preference for experimental designs and quantitative methods, whereas in other settings (for example in nonprofit organizations) there may be a preference for the use of naturalistic designs and qualitative analysis.Discussions at this stage will include attention to issues of methodological appropriateness, relevance and believability of the data, Box 2. Summative, formative and developmental evaluations Evaluations are carried out for many different purposes. Among them, three main purposes stand out: (1) reaching critical judgments about a programme, (2) programme improvement, and (3) programme and organizational development over time.Summative, or judgment-oriented evaluations are carried out to determine the overall merit, worth, significance, or value of something. These evaluations are generally carried out to provide judgments that can inform major decisions, for example, whether or not to continue a programme, expand it, or change it in some basic way. The intended users of summative evaluations are often external to the programme, for example, the agencies that fund the programme or potential users (customers) of programme outputs.A formative, or improvement-oriented evaluation is carried out to improve a programme. Whereas a judgment-oriented evaluation requires preordinate, explicit criteria and values that form the basis for judgment, improvement-oriented evaluations tend to be more open-ended, gathering a variety of data about strengths and weaknesses with the expectation that both will be found and each can be used to inform an ongoing cycle of reflection and innovation.A developmental evaluation involves changing the intervention, adapting it to changed circumstances, and altering tactics based on emergent conditions. Developmental evaluations are designed to be congruent with and nurture developmental, emergent, innovative, and transformational processes. In this sense, they can be particularly useful for programmes that evolve over time as they address emerging issues in changing environments.understandability, accuracy, credibility, balance, practicality, propriety, and cost. As always, the overriding concern will be utility. Will results obtained from these methods be useful -and actually used?Once data have been collected and organized for analysis, intended users are actively and directly involved in interpreting findings, making judgments based on the data, and generating recommendations. Specific strategies for use can then be formalized in light of actual findings, and the evaluator can facilitate follow through on actual use. A critical point here is that the evaluation is not complete when the final report is written. UFE involves follow through after findings are generated to facilitate and monitor use. For this to happen, it needs to be built in to evaluation budgets.Finally, decisions about the dissemination of evaluation findings can be made beyond whatever initial commitments were made earlier in planning for intended use. This reinforces the distinction between intended use by intended users (planned utilization) versus more general dissemination for broad public accountability (where both hoped-for and unintended uses may occur). Follow-up studies of evaluation use show that indirect and unanticipated uses of evaluation do occur, and unintended users emerge through dissemination of findings. Such additional uses are often the ripple effects of intended use by intended users, as they play a role in disseminating findings to their own networks. Thus, thoughtful and targeted dissemination is important, and can lead to secondary use, but the first priority remains intended use by intended users. Dissemination decisions and processes flow from there.In practice, it's usually two steps forward and one step back… While in principle there is a straightforward, one-step-at-a-time logic to the unfolding of a UFE, in reality the process is seldom simple or linear. For example, the evaluator may find that new users become important or new questions emerge in the midst of methods decisions. Nor is there necessarily a clear cut distinction between the processes of focusing evaluation questions and making methods decisions. Questions inform methods and methodological decisions can inform questions.Throughout this back-and-forth, non-linear evaluation decision-making and negotiating process, the evaluator is learning what is most relevant and meaningful to intended users, and they are learning what evaluation can provide that will make a difference to what they do. This mutual learning helps focus the evaluation's utility and increases the willingness of busy decision makers to spend time on evaluation. They will spend time on what they find valuable and relevant. The evaluator has to figure out what that is.UFE involves negotiations between the evaluator(s) and intended users throughout the evaluation process. The design of a particular evaluation depends on the people involved and their situation. The standards and principles of evaluation provide overall direction, a foundation of ethical guidance, and a commitment to professional competence and integrity. But there are no hard and fast rules an evaluator can follow to know exactly what to do with specific users in a particular situation. This means negotiating the evaluation's intended uses. A successful evaluation (one that is useful, practical, ethical and accurate) emerges from the special characteristics and conditions of a particular situation -a mixture of people, politics, history, context, resources, constraints, values, needs, interests, and chance.The phrase 'active-reactive-interactive-adaptive' describes the nature of the consultative interactions that go on between utilizationfocused evaluators and intended users. The phrase is both descriptive and prescriptive. It describes how real-world decision-making actually unfolds. But it is also prescriptive in alerting evaluators to consciously and deliberately act, react and adapt in order to increase their effectiveness in working with primary intended users.Utilization-focused evaluators are, first and foremost, active in deliberately identifying intended users and focusing on useful questions. They are reactive in listening to intended users and responding to what they learn about the particular situation in which the evaluation unfolds. They interact, in back-and-forth dialogue, to figure out what is important, relevant, credible and useful. They are adaptive in altering evaluation questions and designs in light of their increased understanding of the situation and changing conditions. Active-reactive-interactive-adaptive evaluators don't impose cookbook designs. Nor do they use the same evaluation approaches and methods time after time. Arriving at the final evaluation design is a negotiated process that allows the values and capabilities of the evaluator to intermingle with those of intended users (Figure 1). Most discussions about evaluation use focus on the use of findings. However, being engaged in the processes of evaluation can be useful in itself, quite apart from the findings that may emerge from those processes. Reasoning processes are evaluation's donkeys -they carry the load. If, as a result of being involved in an evaluation, primary intended users learn to reason like an evaluator and operate in accordance with evaluation's values, then the evaluation has generated more than findings. It has been useful beyond the findings in that it has increased the participants' capacity to use evaluative logic and reasoning. Participating in a UFE can also contribute to the formation of productive working relationships and teamwork.Process use refers to using the logic, employing the reasoning, and being guided by the values that underpin the evaluation profession (Box 3). Any evaluation can, and many do, have these kinds of effects. What's different about UFE is that the process of actively involving intended users increases these kinds of evaluation impacts. What's more, the possibility and desirability of learning from both evaluation processes and findings can be intentional and purposeful. In otherReact Interact Act Adapt words, instead of treating process use as an unintended secondary benefit, paying explicit and up-front attention to the potential impacts of evaluation logic and processes can increase those impacts and make them a planned purpose for undertaking the evaluation. In this way, the evaluation's overall utility is increased.How funders and users of evaluation think about and calculate the costs and benefits of evaluation are affected by whether or not process use is considered. The benefit-cost ratio of an evaluation increases if the evaluation goes beyond producing a report with findings and also contributes to staff development and organizational learning.Just as students need experience and practice to learn to do evaluations, programmes and organizations need experience and practice to become adept at using evaluations for organizational learning and programme improvement. The field of evaluation is paying more and more attention to building capacity for evaluation into programmes and organizations (Horton et al., 2003;Preskill and Russ-Eft, 2005). An organization's openness to evaluation increases when its members and other stakeholders have positive experiences with evaluation -and learn to reflect on and take lessons from those experiences. A common problem in introducing evaluation to organizations has been attempting to do too much too fast, before sufficient capacity was developed to support useful evaluation. Capacities needed include management and staff understanding of the logic and values of programme evaluation, developing organization-specific processes for integrating evaluation into planning and programme development, and connecting evaluation to the latest understanding about organizational learning (Preskill and Torres, 1999).UFE, like many other approaches developed in the field of programme evaluation, is not widely known in the field of agricultural research. Nevertheless, it builds on a long tradition of participatory and collaborative monitoring and evaluation (Estrella et al., 2000;Guijt, 2007). The following two cases illustrate how UFE has been applied in an international network and a regional Andean initiative.In late 2006, the International Network for Bamboo and Rattan (www.inbar.int) engaged one of the authors (Horton) to evaluate its programmes. Headquartered in Beijing, INBAR's mission is to improve the wellbeing of bamboo and rattan producers and users while ensuring the sustainability of the bamboo and rattan resource base. The Dutch Government had initially requested and funded the evaluation as an end-of-grant requirement.Step 1. Identify primary intended users. The first task was to ascertain the 'real' purposes and potential users of the evaluation. This process began with a face-to-face meeting with INBAR's Director and a call to a desk officer at the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs, which revealed that the intent of both parties was for the evaluation to contribute to strengthening INBAR's programmes and management. During an initial visit to INBAR's headquarters, additional stakeholders were identified, including INBAR board members and local partners.Step 2. Gain commitment to UFE and focus the evaluation. From the outset, it was clear that key stakeholders were committed to using the evaluation to improve INBAR's work. So the main task was to identify key issues for INBAR's organizational development. Three methods were used: (1) a day-long participatory staff workshop to review INBAR's recent work and identify main strengths, weaknesses and areas for improvement; (2) interviews with managers and staff members; and (3) proposing a framework for the evaluation that covered the broad areas of strategy, management systems, programmes and results.Step 3. Decide on evaluation methods. After early interactions with the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs on the evaluation TOR, most interactions were with INBAR managers, staff members and partners at field sites. It was jointly decided that INBAR would prepare a consolidated report on its recent activities (following an outline proposed by the evaluator) and organize a self-evaluation workshop at headquarters. The evaluator would participate in this workshop and make field visits in China, Ghana, Ethiopia and India. INBAR regional coordinators proposed schedules for the field visits, which were then negotiated with the evaluator.Step 4. Analyze and interpret findings and reach conclusions. At the end of each field visit, a debriefing session was held with local INBAR staff members. At the end of the field visits, a half-day debriefing session and discussion was held at INBAR headquarters; this was open to all staff. After this meeting, the evaluator met with individual staff members who expressed a desire to have a more personal input into the evaluation process. Later on, INBAR managers and staff members were invited to comment on and correct a draft evaluation report.Step 5. Disseminate evaluation findings. The evaluator met personally with representatives of three of INBAR's donors to discuss the evaluation's findings, and the final report was made available to INBAR's donors, staff members and the Board of Trustees. A summary of the report was posted on the INBAR website.Utility of the evaluation. The evaluation process helped to bring a number of issues to the surface and explore options for strengthening INBAR's programmes. For example, one conclusion of the evaluation was that INBAR should seek to intensify its work in Africa and decentralize responsibilities for project management to the region. There has been a gradual movement in this direction, as new projects have been developed. INBAR has recently opened a regional office for East Africa, in Addis Ababa and is putting more emphasis on collaboration with regional and national partners.In early 2005, the Papa Andina Regional Partnership Program engaged one of the authors (Horton) to facilitate a process of reflection and evaluation over several months. Based at the International Potato Box 3. Process use Process use occurs when those involved in the evaluation learn from the evaluation process itself or make programme changes based on the evaluation process rather than the evaluation's findings. Process use, then, includes cognitive, attitudinal, and behaviour changes in individuals, and programme or organizational changes resulting, either directly or indirectly, from engagement in the evaluation process and learning to think evaluatively (for example, goal clarification, conceptualizing the programme's theory of action, identifying evaluation priorities, struggling with measurement issues, participation in design and interpretation). Process use is reflected in statements like this:\"During the evaluation, we realized some ways to improve our work with partners, and we began implementing them even before the evaluation was done and the report was written.\" Process use includes the effects of evaluation procedures and operations. Such uses of evaluation processes can affect programmes as much as, or even more than, the use of evaluation findings disseminated in evaluation reports.Center (Lima, Peru), Papa Andina aims to contribute to sustainable poverty reduction in the Andes through the promotion of innovation in Andean potato-based farming and marketing systems. Papa Andina works through a network of about 30 partners in Bolivia, Ecuador and Peru. Papa Andina coordinates its activities with a 'strategic partner' in each country that plays a leadership and coordinating role in market chain innovation. Papa Andina was nearing the end of its third funding phase, and the initiative's main donor, the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC), needed an evaluation report. But, Papa Andina's members also wanted the evaluation to help them improve their work. In previous evaluations, Papa Andina's members felt they learned and benefited little from the traditional external evaluations. This was partly because the evaluators did not have enough time to understand the Andean context in which Papa Andina worked and the strategies it had developed over time to foster pro-poor innovation. It was also because the members were hardly involved in the evaluation and had not read the report. The intent now was to involve the evaluators more in Papa Andina's work and to involve the members more in the evaluation process, to improve mutual comprehension and use of the evaluation's findings.Step 1. Identify primary intended users. In initial meetings with Papa Andina's coordinator and a few members, several groups of key stakeholders were identified, including members of the Coordinating Unit, Strategic Partners, Steering Committee, CIP and SDC.Step 2. Gain commitment to UFE and focus the evaluation. Papa Andina's coordinator was careful to ensure that SDC, the Steering Committee and CIP were on board with the approach. There were initial questions and concerns about the amount of time the approach would demand of network members. However, when it was explained that evaluative activities would contribute to knowledge sharing, learning and programme improvement, and would feed directly into planning for the next phase of the programme, commitment to UFE was secured. Through discussions with key stakeholders, it became apparent that the key purposes of the evaluation were to: (a) produce an adequate report to satisfy the accountability requirements of SDC; (b) analyze critically the progress made by the programme with the partners; and (c) contribute to planning the next phase of Papa Andina's activities. The evaluation was subsequently designed to fulfil these purposes.Step 3. Decide on evaluation methods. The evaluator and Papa Andina's Coordination Team jointly prepared an initial proposal for the evaluation, including timeline and budget. The Coordination Team then negotiated the evaluation proposal with CIP, SDC and the Steering Committee. The final proposal combined Horizontal Evaluations (Thiele et al., 2007), preparation of synthesis reports on major activities, a participatory evaluation workshop, and preparation of an evaluation report by two external evaluators. Efforts were made to combine the evaluation with activities and events already planned by the Program in the three countries that would bring together partners; to minimize the additional time and financial resources needed for the evaluation and the disruption of normal activities.Step 4. Analyze and interpret findings and reach conclusions. Several events including one horizontal evaluation workshop were organized in each country to analyze and evaluate the major methodologies and activities developed by the programme. Papa Andina's members were involved directly in data collection, analysis, interpretation, and reaching conclusions. Meetings were also held in each country to assess progress on issues of gender and empowerment. Finally, a regional evaluation workshop was organized in which participants assessed the strengths and weaknesses of Papa Andina's work and identified priorities for the future. The two external evaluators were involved in planning the various evaluative activities; they participated in most of the meetings, and then prepared an evaluation report based on these and other inputs. The evaluators presented preliminary conclusions and recommendations during the regional evaluation workshop, and reactions from participants were taken into account. The evaluators then prepared a draft evaluation report that was presented verbally to Papa Andina's Steering Committee, which includes representatives of each participating country programme, CIP and SDC. These interactions between the evaluation team and Papa Andina's stakeholders allowed for the clarification of points, correction of errors, and dialogue concerning the main findings. Based on these exchanges, the evaluation report was finalized and formally submitted.Step 5. Disseminate evaluation findings. The materials prepared for the evaluation and the final evaluation report were disseminated in numerous ways. Highlights of the evaluation were published in the Papa Andina newsletter. Many of the materials prepared for the evaluation were incorporated into a 'Papa Andina Compendium' (Devaux et al., 2006).Utilization of the evaluation. As members of Papa Andina were directly involved in the evaluation (especially during the evaluation workshops), many of them realized things during the evaluation process that they could put into practice straightaway. For example, a researcher in Ecuador realized during a horizontal evaluation that he needed to improve local participation in activities he was organizing. A researcher from Peru at the same workshop realized that he could improve the impact of his work by involving local government officials in planning his activities. During the final evaluation workshop, participants identified some broad areas for improving the work of Papa Andina in its next phase -most notably, the areas of gender, policy influence and evaluation. These areas were incorporated into recommendations in the final evaluation report, which provided the basis for planning Phase 4 of Papa Andina.In previous evaluations, the donor and the evaluators made most of the decisions concerning the evaluation; the evaluation report was sent to Papa Andina's donor, who later sent recommendations to Papa Andina's Coordinating Unit. In some cases, Papa Andina's members did not understand the recommendations and could not get an adequate explanation from the donor. In other cases, they felt the recommendations were not realistic. As a result, several of the recommendations were not reflected in future work. In this case, the involvement of Papa Andina's members throughout the evaluation process led to more realistic recommendations that were better understood and more thoroughly incorporated into future work plans. The Institutional Learning and Change (ILAC) Initiative (www.cgiar-ilac.org), hosted by Bioversity International, seeks to increase the contributions of agricultural research to sustainable reductions in poverty. The ILAC Initiative is currently supported by the Netherlands Ministry of Foreign Affairs. ILAC Briefs aim to stimulate dialogue and to disseminate ideas and experiences that researchers and managers can use to strengthen organizational learning and performance. An ILAC brief may introduce a concept, approach or tool; it may summarize results of a study; or it may highlight an event and its significance. To request copies, write to [email protected]. The ILAC Initiative encourages fair use of the information in its Briefs and requests feedback from readers on how and by whom the publications were used. Thiele, G., Devaux, A., Velasco, C. and Horton. D. 2007. Horizontal evaluation: fostering knowledge sharing and program improvement within a network. American Journal of Evaluation 28(4): 493-508.Michael Quinn Patton is an organizational development and evaluation consultant. He is former President of the American Evaluation Association (AEA) and is the only recipient of both the Alva and Gunner Myrdal Award for outstanding contributions to evaluation use and practice and the Paul F. Lazarsfeld Award for lifetime contributions to evaluation theory. Dr. Patton has worked with organizations and programs at the international, national, state, and local levels, and with philanthropic, not-for-profit, private sector, and government programs.He is a generalist working across the full range of efforts being made to improve human effectiveness and results, including programs on leadership development, education, human services, the environment, public health, employment, agricultural extension, arts, criminal justice, poverty, transportation, diversity, managing for results, performance indicators, effective governance, and futuring. Among Dr. Patton's many publications is the widely used text, Utilization-Focused Evaluation. "}

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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"85dbdcacf7a8e7321431645bcab7015d","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/711b605c-4a11-4a12-ac40-6fa99a42915f/retrieve","id":"-2038613774"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"56b56bc7-9207-45f4-83ac-ccd999fd5b6b","content":"Cali Come Mejor\" es un proyecto destinado a promover políticas locales y/o regionales que contribuyan eficazmente a reducir las desigualdades, a mejorar el bienestar alimentario de las poblaciones urbanas y rurales vulnerables, estrechando los vínculos entre éstas y los agricultores. Los conceptos esenciales usados movilizan el referencial de \"sistema alimentario sostenible\" y \"transición nutricional y alimentaria\" para caracterizar y analizar las condiciones y problemas encontrados en la población pobre de Cali (reporte 1). En une secunda parte movilizaron una revición de literatura científica sobre la alimentación, una encuesta participativa con los actores públicos y privados (reporte 3). Este reporte da cuenta de los análisis complementarios usando las bases de datos identificadas.Los resultados principales caracterizan dificultades mayores que encuentra la población vulnerable en el acceso a una alimentación suficiente y saludable. Un problema mayor se encuentra en los precios muy elevados de esos productos. El carácter elevado de esos precios se explica por la estructura oligopólica del sistema de distribución de alimentos que se concentra en las cadenas de supermercados. Otro problema reside en la falta de acceso a los mercados. Los elementos mayores de información y de conocimientos de este reporte han estructurado el programa y la organización del taller de restitución a los actores en la plataforma del 10 diciembre (reporte 5). Esta jornada permitió debatir y fortalecer una modelización de los sistemas de alimentación de la población vulnerable que se centra en los desafíos principales para las políticas públicas y en los objetivos de estudios complementarios necesarios (reporte 6)La identificación y el análisis de los problemas de alimentación de la población de Cali en relación con la guía metodológica tienen como objetivo movilizar el concepto de Sistema de alimentación sostenible. Este concepto se está construyendo en el seno de la comunidad científica. Está también en el centro de foros internacionales que organizan las relaciones entre el mundo de las políticas públicas de investigación y empresas para orientar las innovaciones institucionales, organizacionales y tecnológicas que permiten una transición del proceso de alimentación de las poblaciones hacia una \"alimentación que sea sostenible\". Las principales definiciones que se encuentran en la literatura científica son las siguientes:1979: \"la manera en que los hombres se organizan en el espacio y el tiempo para obtener y consumir su comida... Sistemas de alimentación son todas las actividades que contribuyen a la función de oferta en una sociedad dada \" (Malassis, 1979) 1997: \"todos los procesos involucrados en alimentar a una población e incluye la entrada y salida generados en cada paso. Opera dentro de un sistema alimentario y está influenciado por el contexto social, político, económico y ambiental \" (Goodman, 1997) 2015: \"pensamiento que se entiende, a menudo, como un enfoque que considera los sistemas de alimentos como todos los elementos del sistema alimentario que están interrelacionados y pueden ser afectados por incentivos que ajustan sus relaciones mutuas y los resultados finales de intercambio (nutrición) \"(Herforth Lidder y Gill, 2015).El uso de una definición está ligado a un contexto político, a las disciplinas o a la competencia de los investigadores involucrados. Hay dos comunidades de prácticas que usan este concepto (Touzard et al. 2013). Para la primera comunidad, el concepto constituye una forma concreta que representa la realidad. El objetivo es su descripción y analizar su eficacia de funcionamiento. Eso permite implementar políticas de estrategias que mejoren el sistema. Para la segunda comunidad, el concepto es un modelo de representación que conduce a identificar las condiciones que se deberían realizar para que el \"sistema\" se transforme en una forma concreta.El referencial analítico de \"sistema\" tiene como idea central que las sinergias, entre actividades, proyectos, actores aumentan la eficacidad del uso de los recursos alimenticios con el objetivo de lograr una \"alimentación sostenible\".De acuerdo con la utilización de este concepto en diferentes proyectos de investigaciones, proponemos movilizar un cuadro metodológico estructurado de la forma siguiente: Describir los componentes estructurantes del sistema  Contextualizar las fronteras territoriales  Analizar la organización  Comprender la dinámica de evolución a) Identificar el objetivo común que asegura la coordinación De manera general, el objetivo primero de \"un sistema alimentario\" es la seguridad alimentaria de las poblaciones en relación con: la disponibilidad, utilización, accesibilidad y regularidad de la alimentación (Touzard et Temple 2014). De manera específica un \"sistema alimentario sostenible\" debe responder a dos objetivos complementarios:  Reducir las desigualdades entre las poblaciones: clases de ingreso, rurales y urbanas, entre países, entre hombres, mujeres y niñas.  Mejorar el medio ambiente: reducir la intensidad de emisión de carbono, residuos, la contaminación en el agua, la disminución de la biodiversidad... En el proyecto \"Cali come Mejor\", la noción de sostenibilidad está mas enfocada a la dimensión social de la población vulnerable que al impacto sobre el medio ambiente. Esta previsto enfatizar mas la parte del medio ambiente en un fase futuro del proyecto … b) Contextualizar el sistema con un territorio: las fronteras La hipótesis de existencia de un sistema de alimentación sostenible es que las relaciones entre los actores dentro de este territorio son más fuertes que con el exterior de este territorio. Este territorio puede ser ubicado en \"una ciudad\", pero también puede ser \"regional\" y \"nacional\". Una vez que se han delimitado las fronteras territoriales del sistema, se analizan las relaciones entre el sistema y su entorno.c) Describir los componentes que estructuran el sistema: Variables estructurantes: actores, actividades  Variables de flujo y relación  Circuitos y cadenas de alimentación d) Analizar la organización de este sistema:Se estructura la organización de un sistema de alimentación por la existencia de relaciones de complementariedad o de integraciones entre tres subsistemas: El subsistema de consumo alimentario de los consumidores  El subsistema de abastecimiento y de producción de alimentos que se estructura en diferentes canales de distribución y cadenas  El subsistema de gobernanza política.El conjunto es que esas relaciones de complementariedad-integraciones entre los tres subsistemas permiten optimizar el uso de los recursos existentes o la generación de nuevos recursos para lograr el objetivo común. e) Comprender la dinámica Analizar la dinámica implica caracterizar (determinar) las siguientes variables:  Variables de gobernanza institucional a través de políticas públicas o demandas sociales: proyecto político urbano…  Variables cognitivas que son producidas por:o modelos de representación de la diversidad en la organización de la alimentación de las poblaciones o conocimientos sobre las causalidades entre la alimentación y la malnutrición  Variables macroeconómicas, transiciones democráticas, mercados internacionales  Variables de innovaciones traídas por los cambios tecnológicos y la ciencia El cuadro de investigación movilizado en el proyecto Cali come mejor no permite realizar un análisis completo de toda las etapas mencionadas. Por supuesto, en relación con:  el cuadro metodológico (Reporte 1),  las informaciones de la literatura científica identificada (Reporte 2)  las de conocimientos que salen de las encuestas (Reporte 3). Sintetizamos los resultados sobre el conocimiento del subsistema de abastecimiento y de producción de Cali para mejorar el conocimiento de los problemas mayores que se encuentran en el abastecimiento de las poblaciones vulnerables.2 El sistema de abastecimiento de Cali y sus disfuncionalidades La noción de sistema de abastecimiento alimentario se construye mediante el conjunto de referencias metodológicas en economía de cadenas (Temple et al. 2011, Naoum et al, 2014).Esta noción permite identificar y analizar el encadenamiento de los operadores económicos que realizan las etapas complementarias de producción, transporte, transformación y distribución de los productos alimentarios. Eso permite identificar las complementariedades y las sinergias entre dichas etapas, de modo que se puedan reducir los costos de las transacciones y del comercio entre la \"producción\" y el \"consumo\". Así pues, se pueden identificar los vínculos que permiten relacionar la demanda alimentaria de la ciudad con la oferta.Este método sirve para definir acciones susceptibles de reforzar aquellas complementariedades favorables a la sostenibilidad del sistema, adecuar la oferta alimentaria y el precio de los alimentos.El diagnóstico del sistema de abastecimiento, como el análisis del sistema alimentario está basado en el encadenamiento lógico de dos componentes.Una primera parte \"descriptiva\" de elementos que estructuran las cadenas de abastecimiento: a) Las zonas de producción b) Los actores involucrados en el proceso de abastecimiento de la población c) Los flujos de productos entre actores Una segunda parte focalizada sobre una secuencia analítica del funcionamiento del sistema para identificar las debilidades en la organización de la cadena de alimentación que abastece a la población vulnerable de Cali: consumidores, pequeños o medianos productores de alimentos en las zonas rurales.Para realizar esos dos análisis utilizamos en este informe informaciones, conocimientos de la literatura científica y de los medios de comunicación identificados en internet e informaciones de las memorias de encuestas realizadas (cf. Reporte 1).Zonas de producción e importación agrícola en el Valle del Cauca La caña de azúcar y el café son los cultivos principales cultivados en el Valle del Cauca, al ocupar 46 % y el 14 % del total del área cosechado del departamento (AGRONET 2015b). En tercer lugar, en cuanto a la participación dentro del área total cosechada, se encuentran los cultivos del maíz de zona plana, el plátano y el arroz, que representan un 10 %, 6 % y 2 %, respectivamente. Con respeto a la producción en toneladas, la caña de azúcar es sin duda el producto principal con 91% de la producción dentro del departamento. Los otros cultivos, como el maíz, el plátano o el banano tienen individualmente un aporte de menos de 2 % (véase ilustraciones 2 y 3, AGRONET (2015b)). La producción de alimentos para el autoconsumo está muy reducida, debido a que la mayoría de familias trabajan en las grandes explotaciones comerciales y no destinan ni tiempo ni espacios en sus fincas para la producción de alimentos (ALCALDÍA DE CALI s.f.).El Valle del Cauca produce aproximadamente entre el 20 % y 35 % de los alimentos que se consumen en la ciudad de Cali. El resto de los alimentos (~ 65-80 %) que se consumen en Cali viene de otros departamentos y un pequeño porcentaje del exterior de Colombia (memorias de CAVASA, Súper Inter, Éxito, IMCA).Por tipo de producto, el porcentaje importado para el consumo de Cali puede variar. Por ejemplo, la gran mayoría de los granos (lentejas, fríjoles) viene de Tolima o del exterior (Canadá o Chile) y las frutas del interior (entrevista con Moisés Quintana de CAVASA).Los productos básicos de la dieta caleñael arroz, la papa, el plátano, la yuca, el tomate y la cebollason en su mayoría importados de otros departamentos. La producción de verduras y especialmente frutas está basada en pequeños cultivos que se ubican sobre todo en el centro y el norte del Valle del Cauca (Súper Inter, Éxito, IMCA, Prod. de VallenPaz):Papa: Nariño, Cundinamarca, Boyacá, Medellín, Cauca; Exterior: Ecuador, Perú, Venezuela, Chile, EEUU, Holanda, China; Valle: Palmira, Pradera, Yumbo, Cali, Cerrito, Vijes, Candelaria, Dagua, Yotoco Arroz: Casi no se vende en CAVASA y tampoco mucho en las otras galerías, en general el arroz (en riego) se produce principalmente en los departamentos Tolima (48%), Huila (14%), en el Norte de Santander (11%), Casanare (7%) y Cesar (6%) (Fuente: AGRONET (2015a), datos de 2013).Plátano: Quindío, Pereira; Valle: Palmira, Caicedonia, Sevilla, Dagua, El Águila, Candelaria, Darién; Exterior: Ecuador Yuca: Cauca, Quindío, Pereira; Valle: Palmira, Buga, Pradera, Dagua, Candelaria, Zarza, El Águila, El Cairo, Ansermanuevo, Darién, Sevilla, Caicedonia, Alcalá, Florida, Exterior: Ecuador Tomate: Cauca, Nariño, Pereira, Quindío, Huila, Bucaramanga y Tolima; dentro del Valle viene de: Dagua, Palmira, Pradera, Darién, Restrepo, Candelaria, Florida, Cali, El Dovio, Tuluá, La Cumbre, Buga, Yumbo, Cerito, Guacarí, Andalucía, Caicedonia, Sevilla, Ginebra Cebolla cabezona: Cundinamarca, Boyacá, Nariño, Cauca, Bucaramanga El problema de acceso a la tierra en relación con el monocultivo de la caña que concentra el uso de los suelos parece bloquear el desarrollo de la agricultura urbana de proximidad que permitiría el abastecimiento de la población o incluir productos de proximidad en este abastecimiento. Eso se traduce por un abastecimiento de la ciudad desde zonas lejanas: otros departamentos (Antoquia) u otros países (Ecuador). A raíz de esta observación, podemos establecer que los productores alimentarios de Cali tienen precios más elevados que en las otras ciudades del país.  Actores claves del sistema de abastecimiento En relación con la tipología de actores identificada en la estructuración de las encuestas participativas, analizamos cada tipo de actores involucrados en actividades relacionadas con procesos de abzstecimiento o de producción.2.1.2.1.1 Actores de la producción agrícola y agroalimentarias.Los productores involucrados en al abastecimiento alimentario se clasifican de manera convencional entre pequeños, medianos y grandes. En Colombia, en general, predominan los pequeños y medianos productores que aportan la mayoría de los alimentos (PERFETTI et al. 2013, LAU et al. 2011). Según la fuente, el aporte de alimentos producido por pequeños productores varía, sin embargo, entre el 50 y 65 %.El Valle del Cauca destaca por la alta producción de la caña de azúcar en las zonas planas y la importancia de los ingenios azucareros que son dueños de la mayoría de las tierras agrícolas (PERFETTI et al. 2013) y que tienen mucha influencia sobre las estructuras políticas y económicas.. La producción agrícola en el Valle del Cauca es dominada por pequeños productores (Super Inter, SAG, IMCA) que se ubican principalmente en las zonas laderas del Valle. De hecho, los costos de logística para comercializar esos productos son elevados. A causa de la reivindicación de la mayoría del área cultivable por la caña, gran parte de los alimentos consumidos en el Valle del Cauca, y especialmente en Cali, vienen de otros departamentos.Se implementó una caracterización de los productores basada en sus condiciones de acceso al mercado urbano:  Los productores de la agricultura urbana (se hace la diferencia entre los productores intraurbanos y los productores periurbanos que se encuentran dentro del Municipio de Cali o en los alrededores.  Los productores de las zonas rurales que se encuentran en la proximidad del Valle del Cauca  Los productores de regiones lejanas y/o de otros departamentos o de otros países.Según las encuestas, es decir, según los conocimientos de los actores encontrados en relación con sus experiencias profesionales o según las cifras que existen en diferentes informes de proyectos, la contribución de la agricultura (peri) urbana al abastecimiento de los mercados de la ciudad se situaría alrededor de 3 %. Por supuesto, esta cifra es potencialmente más elevada si se contabiliza la producción agrícola que sirve al autoconsumo de los pequeños productores urbanos o rurales.Los pequenos productores involucrados en el abastecimiento de Cali están agrupados en tres principales organizaciones identificadas que son las siguientes: Asociación de los productores de la Paz. La asociación reúne 40 productores del corregimiento La Paz (Municipio de Cali) y se fundó hace 7 años. Los campesinos de la Paz producen sobre todo hierbas, plantas medicinales y en pocas cantidades flores. La asociación, con su presidente Jammer Hoyos, está en proceso de establecer una organización que une todas las asociaciones de los 15 corregimientos de Cali para tener más poder de negocio en la defensa de las necesidades de los productores. Actualmente están negociando un centro de acopio para los productores del Municipio de Cali pero hasta ahora la alcaldía no les hizo caso. Por ende, los productores venden sus productos en la Calle 10#10 en el centro de Cali. Sin embargo, las condiciones de venta son precarias y está prevista la construcción de un centro comercial en esta zona, de manera que dentro de poco los productores ya no podrán comercializar sus productos allá.Asociación de los productores de Felidia. La asociación organiza los productores del corregimiento Felidia (Municipio de Cali) y tiene alrededor de 40 miembros. Entre ellos hay productores pequeños y medianos, los grandes productores de la zona no forman parte de la asociación (no están interesados). Los productores de Felidia producen diferentes legumbres y hortalizas, sobre todo espinaca, lechuga, brócoli y calabacín.Asociación de productores agroecológicos del Valle del Cauca. La Asociación de Productores Orgánicos del Valle del Cauca y del Cauca se fundó hace 14 años. La asociación tiene cerca de 30 miembros constantes pero en total hay más productores que están relacionados a la asociación (~300 productores). Los productores de la asociación producen una variedad de productoslácteos de cabra, hortalizas y frutas y también hay huevos orgánicos. Ellos organizaron una red de 12 mercados agroecológicos en el Valle del Cauca (el coordinador se llama Gustavo Suárez). La gran mayoría de los productos de estos agricultores llegan a los mercados agroecológicos. En Cali se encuentra en el parqueadero de la Corporación Autónoma Regional del Valle del Cauca (CVC) (Carrera 56#11). Sin embargo, la CVC solo les dio permiso para formar su mercado hasta finales de 2015. La ubicación del mercado en Cali es un problema permanente porque no lograron encontrar un sitio donde se puedan quedar de manera constante. Los productores están ubicados en todo el Valle del Cauca y en el Cauca. Se trata de familias campesinas que gracias al mercado orgánico han podido mejorar su calidad de vida a través de un aumento y un mejoramiento (en sentido ecológico) de la producción. En el mercado ecológico se venden los productos de manera directa del productor al consumidor, no hay intermediarios. Los productores de la asociación no venden a los supermercados, por un lado porque los productos no cumplen las normas de estética de los supermercados y por otro lado porque a la asociación no le interesa colaborar con los supermercados. Ellos quieren, más bien, tener un contacto directo con los consumidores y construir una comunidad.La asociación ya no trabaja con una certificación orgánica oficial sino con el \"sistema participativo basado en la confianza\" (es un concepto internacional IFOAM). En su historia tenían una certificación oficial pero desde hace unos años no la renovaron por falta de recursos económicos. Antes, esta cuota (entre 3-5 millones COP por productor) fue pagada unas tres veces por la CVC. La asociación decidió no renovar la certificación, no solo por falta de recursos, sino también porque el sistema de la confianza de la IFOAM ya tiene en muchos países una autorización oficial. La asociación tiene un sistema de control interno que incluye los siguientes pasos: 1) cada productor tiene un registro de producción, 2) tiene que montar un plan de extensión, 3) tiene que explicar los métodos que está aplicando y 4) tiene que describir los problemas con los cuales se ve confrontado. La asociación trabaja con el concepto de agrosistemas ecológicoseso implica que no se trata de simples cultivos sino que se implementa el concepto integral de una finca que se basa en la multifuncionalidad. Ellos tienen una énfasis fuerte en la conservación del suelo, utilizan sólo fertilizantes ecológicos, aplican la rotación de cultivos, la asociación de cultivos y el biocontrol (este concepto está basado en la alta diversidad de variedades que generan sinergias para evitar plagas).Las empresas agroindustriales. Esta categoría de actor de la producción no fue estudiado!!! 2.1.2.1.2 Los actores del sistema de distribución de alimentación 5 486 empresas formales aseguran la distribución de los productos alimentarios y dicha distribución genera más de 20 000 empleos. Los datos disponibles permiten diferenciar las empresas especializadas en un tipo de productos (agrícolas, carne, leche...) de las empresas que comercializan diferentes productos. El subsector de las empresas especializadas tiene casi exclusivamente pequeñas empresas de menos de 2 empleos por empresa. Se pueden diferenciar las empresas según las funciones principales en la distribución de alimentos.Son los principales distribuidores detallistas. Tienen la mayor importancia en el mercado de alimentos en Colombia y a diferencia de otros países todavía no han sido totalmente substituidas por los supermercados (Navas et al.2009). Se caracterizan por una oferta básica de productos alimentarios, una gran flexibilidad de horarios, la disposición de fiar a sus clientes y la cercanía al cliente (tanto en sentido espacial como social). Las variables relevantes para comprar en las tiendas son principalmente: la cercanía, presentaciones pequeñas de los productos y la opción de compra por unidad (Cardona y al. 2016).Con la hipótesis que las empresas no \"especializadas en alimentos\" de menos de 2 empleos son principalmente tiendas de barrios, éstas se pueden estimar a más de 3000 tiendas con los datos oficiales públicos. Según el censo de Inforcomercio, realizado por Servinformación, existen 5275 tiendas de barrio en Cali. Según informaciones de actores de cadenas se puede estimar entre 10 000 y 16 000 tiendas en Cali.Aunque las tiendas de barrio existen en barrios de todos los estratos suelen tener una importancia mayor en los barrios de estratos bajos 1, 2 y 3 (EL PAÍS 2014). Uno de los mayores problemas de las tiendas de barrio es poder respetar las normas higiénicas y fiscales (Guarín 2009).Asotenderos [http://mercatienda.com.co/mercatienda/asotenderos.htm] que trabaja por el mejoramiento de las condiciones económicas, culturales, sociales y profesionales de sus asociados. Se busca proteger a las actividades de los tenderos a través del mejoramiento y desarrollo de una política de distribución y abastecimiento de víveres, abarrotes y mercancías en general, que igualmente alcancen a favorecer al consumidor final.El crecimiento de los supermercados en América Latina y en Colombia es general con la urbanización de los modos de vidas (Reardon et al. 2008). Este crecimiento contribuye a una transición no saludable de la alimentación con la promoción de productos industriales con muchas grasas, azúcar y las gaseosas. En otros contextos geográficos se observa que los supermercados tienen pocos impactos sobre el abzstecimiento de las poblaciones más vulnerables (Figiue et Moustier 2009). Sin embargo, hasta ahora su importancia con una participación en las ventas al por menor de 47 % sigue siendo menor a la de las tiendas de barrio con el 53 % (EL TIEMPO 2014).Existen varias cadenas de supermercados grandes y supermercados de barrios (que tienen una menor oferta y muchas veces precios más bajos que los grandes). Las principales cadenas de supermercados son La 14, Éxito, Olímpica, Comfandi, Super Inter (recientemente comprado por el Grupo Éxito) y el Mercamío/Mercatodo.De estas cadenas, Comfandi, el Super Inter y el Mercamío se direccionan más hacia el consumidor de bajos recursos, sobre todo por su ubicación en estratos bajos. Sin embargo, las cadenas Éxito y Olímpica están en el proceso de acercarse más a poblaciones de estratos bajos con una estrategia de abrir un formato de tienda de barrio o de comprar pequeñas tiendas en los barrios (EL TIEMPO 2015, PORTAFOLIO.CO 2013).Debido a la baja productividad, a graves deficiencias en la infraestructura de transporte y en la información de los mercados, el sistema de abastecimiento se caracteriza por la importancia de intermediarios que compran los productos de los productores y los venden a otros intermediarios o a lugares de venta final.En el centro de la cadena tenemos a los distribuidores mayoristas que compran a productores y venden a distribuidores minoristas o también a empresas o supermercados. Por lo tanto, el intermediario puede ser una persona individual, en algunos casos raros él mismo también puede ser productor, o puede ser una empresa intermediaria.  En Cali, actualmente se encuentran activos 25 comedores comunitarios, de los cuales 23 son abastecidos por la arquidiócesis de Cali quienes reciben alimentos provenientes del banco de alimentos de Cali y de donaciones de parroquias de la ciudad o de donaciones hechas por personas naturales. Estos 23 comedores atienden aproximadamente 1700 personas diariamente.Por su parte, la Alcaldía de Cali, apoya a los comedores comunitarios otorgándoles el equipo de cocina necesario para el funcionamiento. En periodos anteriores, la alcaldía realizó aportes significativos para apoyar a los comedores del sector oriente de Cali, sin embargo, en la actualidad no se dispone de recursos para proveerlos de alimentos.En esta estrategia dirigida por la pastoral social de la arquidiócesis de Cali no se dispone de asistencia nutricional, cada familia responsable de cada comedor comunitario se encarga de definir el menú, de acuerdo a los alimentos que se tienen disponibles diariamente \"se cocina lo que hay\". De esta manera, por los pocos recursos y alimentos disponibles, muchas veces las comidas carecen de verduras y carne.Pese a lo anterior, en la comuna 18 ubicada en la zona occidental de la ciudad, hay 3 comedores comunitarios que cuentan con el apoyo de una ONG, poseen recursos adicionales para compra de alimentos, asistencia nutricional, capacitaciones a los agentes comunitarios y seguimiento por parte de la Secretaria de Salud Municipal; lo cual garantiza que 360 niños de la comuna 18 tengan acceso a alimentos nutritivos y con condiciones sanitaria óptimas.Otros dos comedores comunitarios funcionan por iniciativa de ABC Prodein, es una entidad benéfica católica que ofrece 700 almuerzos semanales en el sector oriente de la ciudad. Los recursos de sostenimiento provienen también de donaciones empresariales y particulares.Los comedores escolares que en toda Colombia funcionan por El Programa de Alimentación Escolar (PAE). El PAE brinda un complemento alimentario a los niños, niñas y adolescentes de todo el territorio nacional, registrados en el Sistema de Matrícula -SIMAT-como estudiantes oficiales, financiados con recursos del Sistema General de Participaciones. Pese a que la alimentación es un derecho universal, y en este caso las familias, la sociedad y el Estado deben concurrir para garantizar el acceso universal a la alimentación escolar, la magnitud de la población escolar por debajo de la línea de pobreza en el país es muy alta, por ello es necesario aplicar una estrategia de focalización para la selección de los beneficiarios.Los criterios de priorización para la focalización de los beneficiarios son los siguientes:1. Instituciones educativas que prestan el nivel de educación preescolar y de básica primaria 2. Instituciones educativas con población perteneciente a grupos étnicos (indígenas, afrocolombianos, raizales) y una alta proporción de población víctima del conflicto armado.La cobertura de estudiantes en Cali es del 70 %, el próximo año se espera llegar al 90 % o 100 % de la población estudiantil. Diariamente se entregan: 189 000 raciones de desayuno en 350 sedes de Cali, 17 000 raciones contratadas por instituciones o fundaciones privadas, 2500 almuerzos para estudiantes en jornada única y 7000 almuerzos para estudiantes en jornada complementaria.Los alimentos son suministrados por operadores quienes son seleccionados luego de presentar sus propuestas en cada municipio. En la actualidad, predomina la línea de alimentos denominados \"listos o industrializados\" donde se ofrece un refrigerio que contiene leche, avena, yogur u otras bebidas en bolsa y un alimento como galletas, pan o pastel.Las instituciones beneficiadas que poseen jornada única o complementaria y reciben almuerzo, desarrollan el sistema de preparados (donde la misma institución prepara sus alimentos), según la percepción de la comunidad, los alimentos son más nutritivos y es mayor la cantidad. En el futuro se espera que cada institución cuente con su restaurante escolar en modalidad de preparados (SECRETARÍA DE EDUCACIÓN 2015).El abastecimiento de las cadenas de supermercados se estructura principalmente por contratos: cada cadena de supermercados tiene sus propias políticas de contratos con diferentes normas de calidad y diferentes unidades de compra. Esta diversidad no favorece la transparencia sobre el conocimiento de los precios. Las condiciones contractuales son poco conocidas en Cali.El segundo mecanismo de coordinación se estructura por los mercados físicos. Hay tres tipos de mercados físicos: los mercados mayoristas, las galerías y los mercados móviles.Los mercados mayoristas juegan un papel estratégico en el buen funcionamiento de los sistemas de abastecimiento alimentarios de ciudades de Colombia, principalmente Medellín y Bogotá (Maritza et al. 2012). Son centros de abastecimiento de la ciudad, sobre todo de productos frescos pero también son lugares de formación de los precios directores que permiten la coordinación entre los actores de la producción, distribución, consumo. En un mercado calificado de mayorista los vendedores son en su mayoría intermediarios, organizaciones de productores. Los compradores son mayoristas, detallistas, empresas. Hay dos principales mercados mayoristas en la ciudad de Cali El mercado de CAVASA.Está ubicado en las afueras de la ciudad. Allí venden sobre todo intermediarios y algunos productores grandes del Valle del Cauca y otros departamentos. Los pequeños productores no suelen vender sus productos allí debido a los costos de venta, los altos requerimientos de calidad y las pequeñas cantidades que pueden ofrecer. CAVASA es una entidad privada con control público (Entidad con Vigilancia y control Fiscal) establecida hace 40 años en la zona rural del municipio de Candelaria Valle. Los accionistas de CAVASA son: Corporación Autónoma Regional del Valle del Cauca (CVC), Industria de licores del Valle, Centrales de Transporte S.A, Alcaldía de Santiago de Cali, Gobernación del Valle del Cauca, Ministerio Agricultura, Universidad Icesi, Corfecampo, Emsirva, Sociedad Promotora Cafetera y Empresas Municipales de Cali (EMCALI). Los recursos de sostenimiento de la entidad están sustentados en los cargos administrativos que deben pagar los arrendatarios y los impuestos por descarga de alimentos generados a los transportadores. CAVASA tiene un papel central en el abastecimiento del mercado institucional de la ciudad. El mercado de Cavasa ofrece 1800 empleos.Por supuesto, en comparación con el volumen de transacción de los mercados mayoristas de las otras ciudades importantes come Bogotá (110 000 toneladas) y Medellín (79 000 toneladas), Cavasa con 20 841 toneladas es un pequeño mercado (Cf. Cuadro siguiente). Por supuesto, si este mercado es el único mercado de referencia para la formación de los precios hay dudas sobre el carácter representativo del proceso de formación de esos precios para el papel de adaptación de la oferta a la demanda. Así pues, el papel de abastecimiento de Cavasa no es suficiente y actualmente se complementa por una parte con el mercado de Santa Elena y por otra parte con las proveedurías que son centros de abastecimientos de las cadenas de supermercados sobre los cuales hay pocas informaciones.Tabla 2: Volumen de alimentos transados en las centrales mayoristasEl segundo mercado mayorista de le ciudad de Cali es el mercado de Santa Elena pero que funciona como mercado mayorista principalmente en la noche. En el día Santa Elena tiene más un papel de abastecimiento de los consumidores de las comunas de proximidad que son comunas vulnerables. Santa Elena tiene así dos papeles estratégicos para el abastecimiento y la seguridad alimentaria de la población vulnerable: el de abastecer a la vez los tenderos y directamente los consumidores de las zonas vulnerables.Ningún estudio identificado permite cuantificar el número de actores en Santa Elena y los volúmenes de transacciones. El desinterés de la política municipal por el mejoramiento de la galería de Santa Elena desde 2011 (ninguna inversión pública) se traduce en una situación donde no se respetan las normas sanitarias. También se mencionó que eso favorece una situación de informalidad del comercio (los actores no pagan los impuestos municipales) y mafias locales. Esta situación catastrófica está ligada al problema de la situación legal de los predios (bienes públicos o fiscales) de la galería de Santa Elena que bloquea la posibilidad de inversión para mejorar las infraestructuras.Las Proveedurías son sitios de venta para tenderos donde las poblaciones se pueden abastecer de productos básicos de manera económica con el fin de reducir los márgenes de intermediación entre los proveedores y las tiendas de barrio y, además, facilitar el acceso a alimentos económicos para poblaciones en áreas de bajos recursos. Las proveedurías se basan en la venta directa entre productor y tendero, sin embargo, por lo general no venden productos frescos. Fueron establecidos por la Fundación Carvajal en el Distrito de Agua Blanca y desde el año 2008 las tres proveedurías están operadas por Comfandi -Caja de Compensación del Valle del Cauca (FUNDACIÓN CARVAJAL).Son centros de abastecimiento donde se concentran diversos vendedores (muchos de ellos son intermediarios) de productos alimentarios, sobre todo frutas y verduras frescas. Las galerías se caracterizan por una gran oferta de productos, muchas veces con precios bajos, debido, en parte, a la menor calidad de los productos. Las galerías pueden ser sitios de abastecimiento para otros distribuidores, como las tiendas de barrio, y pueden ser sitios de venta final al consumidor -se vende al por menor y al por mayor.En Cali, además de Santa Elena existen cinco galerías: La Alameda, Alfonso López, Porvenir, La Floresta y Siloé (El Lido) (ALCALDÍA DE CALI & DEPARTAMENTO ADMINISTRATIVO DE PLANEACIÓN MUNICIPAL 2014). Las galerías en Cali se enfrentan a problemas de falta de administración gubernamental, falta de higiene y presencia de carteles de poder (EL PAÍS 2015, ALCALDÍA DE CALI 2013).Son sitios de venta de alimentos, sobre todo de frutas y verduras, que se mueven por varias ubicaciones dentro de la ciudad. Los mercados móviles tienen lugar en ciertos días y horarios, quiere decir que no son permanentes. Muchas veces tienen un estado informal dado que se instalan sin permiso en sitios públicos como áreas verdes, andenes o en las calles. Las condiciones de venta suelen ser inapropiadas por las condiciones de higiene, por la (mala) calidad de los productos, por contaminación ambiental y por precios y pesas incontroladas (EL TIEMPO 1991).El mercado móvil puede ser un sitio de venta directa del productor al consumidor, sin embargo, también hay mucha intervención de intermediarios. No obstante, están surgiendo más y más mercados campesinos o mercados móviles comunitarios que se enfocan precisamente a la venta directa del productor al consumidor y promocionan productos frescos y sanos (por ejemplo el mercado agroecológico o los mercados campesinos de OXFAM.En Cali existen 42 mercados móviles registrados (ALCALDÍA DE CALI & DEPARTAMENTO ADMINISTRATIVO DE PLANEACIÓN MUNICIPAL 2014). Se debe distinguir los mercados móviles y los mercados campesinos (Oxfam 2011). Los mercados campesinos se caracterizan por la mayor frescura de los productos, la venta directa por pequeños productores y un lugar fijo de venta.Banco de alimentos. La Fundación Arquidiocesano Banco de Alimentos de Cali es una institución sin ánimo de lucro que desde el año 2000 colabora en la solución del problema del hambre en la región, ofreciendo una intermediación organizada e integral. Los Bancos de Alimentos son organismos sin ánimo de lucro que trabajan en pro de la Seguridad Alimentaria de los países donde operan. Reciben alimentos excedentarios de comercios, empresas o particulares, para su debida distribución entre población necesitada.El banco de alimentos tiene empresas y personas naturales asociadas, las cuales les donan alimentos con cercana fecha de caducidad, o también, aportan económicamente a la suma por alimentar el futuro. En estos términos, cada una de las compañías les proporcionan los recursos necesarios, para que el Banco de Alimentos funcione y beneficie a las instituciones o fundaciones que apoyan a este tipo de grupos marginales, en especial, a niños de bajos recursos, personas de la tercera edad y madres gestantes y lactantes. Entre estas empresas se encuentran: Fundación ÉXITO (de almacenes ÉXITO), UNILEVER, Fundación grupo Nutresa, Federación Nacional de Avicultores de Colombia, ANDI (Gerencia de responsabilidad social empresarial) y Coca-Cola.(Véase memoria Banco de Alimentos) Las ONG. Aparte de esto existen varias Organizaciones No Gubernamentales (ONGs) que trabajan en el ámbito de la agricultura y/o de la seguridad alimentaria, entre ellos están VallenPaz y OXFAM que son las principales que tienen actividades en el abastecimiento  VallenPaz tiene actividades en proyectos de apoyo a los productores para comercializar en Cavasa y en los supermercados  Oxfam apoya a la gestión de mercados campesinosLos hábitos de compra varían dependiendo de los ingresos (SECRETARÍA DE SALUD PÚBLICA, 2009). La población vulnerable adquiere los alimentos de manera diaria y en pocas cantidades lo que aumenta los costos comparado con compras en cantidades mayores (Fao, 2011). La población vulnerable de Cali compra así gran parte de los productos alimentarios en las tiendas de barrio (y de vendedores ambulantes …), primeramente porque obtienen pocos recursos monetarios que solamente permiten la compra de día a día y en pocas cantidades. Las tiendas de barrio permiten este modo de compra y, además, existe la posibilidad de fiaruna opción que no existe en los supermercados. Por algunos productos como las verduras y frutas la población de estrato 1 compra también en los mercados móviles (OXFAM, 2011).Según esta encuesta, la tienda de barrio es la principal fuente de compra de alimentos (45 %), seguido por los supermercados (35 %) y los mercados móviles o las galerías (ambos 10 %). Aparte de la disponibilidad de fiar, la tienda de barrio tiene la ventaja de la cercanía espacial que permite obtener productos sin gasto de desplazamiento (ALCALDÍA DE CALI s.f.).El grafico siguiente muestra cómo se modifica la estructura del abastecimiento en alimentos en relación con el aumento de los ingresos. Nos permite hacer dos observaciones: Cuando la población vulnerable ve crecer sus ingresos hasta la categoría \"tres\", aumenta sus compras en los supermercados y baja sus abastecimientos en las tiendas y los mercados físicos. La categoría de ingreso 3 es la que más se abastece en los supermercados.  Cuando los ingresos pasan de la categoría tres a la categoría 6, el abastecimiento en las tiendas sigue bajando, pero el abastecimiento en los supermercados baja también con el aumento de las compras en los mercados físicos.El lugar de compra varía con el lugar de residencia dentro de la ciudad: las tiendas de barrio tienen mayor peso en las zonas centro y sobre todo en el suroriente, las zonas donde se encuentran los barrios más vulnerables de la ciudad (Oxfam, 2011).Ilustración 5 : Evolución de la estructura del abastecimiento alimentario en Cali en relación con al aumento de los ingresos (Cat = estrato)Otro factor explicativo es que la mayoría de las cadenas de supermercados no tiene almacenes en las zonas más vulnerables de Cali (Distrito de Agua Blanca, Zona Ladera y ciertos barrios en el centro de Cali). El transporte hacia el supermercado sería entonces un costo adicional que desfavorece la compra en los supermercados. Además, no existen muchas ofertas en los supermercados que sean atractivas para la población vulnerable o los productos a precio de oferta son de baja calidad (memoria SAG). Eso explica que en esas zonas los lugares de compras de alimentos están focalizados en dos actores que son respectivamente los Con los mapas de localización de las plazas de mercado y de los supermercados construidas en el proyecto (Ilustración 4) hemos cuantificado el número de plazas de mercado y de supermercados en cada comuna. Come la metodología de localización es homogénea en todas la comunas podemos hacer comparación entre esas comunas. Haciendo la división de la población de cada comuna por el número de mercados y supermercado, y un promedio de esas dos cifras respectivamente en las comunas vulnerables y no vulnerables podemos construir la ilustración 6. Identificamos así que en las comunas clasificadas como vulnerables (13,14, 15, 18, 21) por habitante hay respectivamente: 3 veces menos de números plazas de mercado ,7 veces menos de números de supermercados que en las comunas de mayor estrato socioeconómico.Eso quiere decir que la población vulnerable en relación con sus ubicaciones geográficas tiene un acceso difícil a los mercados físicos pero también a los supermercados y que para realizar sus abastecimientos en alimentos esa población tiene un costo de transporte y de logística de acceso más elevado que las otras poblaciones calificadas de vulnerables que son las comunas. Es decir que la población vulnerable además de ser vulnerable tampoco tiene un buen acceso de proximidad a los productos en comparación a las comunas menos vulnerables.Abastecimientos de las tiendas de barrio La galería Santa Elena es el principal centro de abastecimiento de las tiendas de barrios. Queda más cerca que CAVASA, lo que implica un ahorro en gastos de transporte y, además, gastos de ingresos. Tienen también otros medios de abastecimientos respectivamente por medio de diferentes intermediarios y de varios proveedores en frutas y verduras o a nivel del centro de abastos que pertenece a cadenas de supermercados como Comfandi, por ejemplo. Algunas tiendas de barrios próximas a CAVASA tienden probablemente a abastecerse en este mercado mayorista pero son pocas.La galería de Santa Elena, se abastece de una gran cantidad de intermediarios. Algunos productores también van allá para vender sus productos directamente. Sin embargo, la venta en la galería de Santa Elena es complicada porque existen carteles de poder que no permiten un acceso libre de cualquier intermediario o productor. Los costos para los \"servicios de seguridad\", las llamadas vacunas, son bastante altas de manera que la mayoría de los pequeños productores no los pueden pagar. La venta en Santa Elena sin pagar las vacunas y sin tener el permiso de los carteles puede ser muy peligrosa teniendo en cuenta que ocurren amenazas de muerte y asesinatos. Los actores encuestados mencionaron la presencia de mafias para los siguientes productos: tomate de árbol, cebolla larga, mango, cilantro, tomate, banano, plátano. En la galería de Santa Elena, además de los problemas de acceso logístico también existen dificultades de acceso al espacio de venta: o esos espacios no están disponibles o hay que negociar con mafias.En el mercado de Cavasa algunas informaciones cualitativas de entrevistas identifican qua Cavasa se abastece principalmente en el Valle de Calle: 70 % de abastecimiento en tomate, 100 % en papa, lechuga y cebolla, 30 % en plátano. Otros productos son importados de otros departamentos como el arroz o del mercado internacional como las lentejas.Para casi todos los actores económicos, el problema de las condiciones logísticas y de acceso a los mercados mayoristas actuales que son Cavasa y Santa Elena tienen una responsabilidad alta en los costos de comercialización que conducen a precios altos sobre los productos alimentarios. Así, el problema de la ubicación y de las carreteras entre Cavasa y la ciudad bloquean la capacidad de este mercado mayorista a abastecer la ciudad en una manera efficaz. Si bien Cavasa sigue siendo el mercado donde se forman los precios directores del sistema de abastecimiento, los costos de comercialización impiden a los detallistas que abastecen los barrios vulnerables que vayan ahí comprar. Este mercado mayorista de manera central funciona para abastecer el mercado institucional, la restauración y una parte las cadenas de supermercados y algunas tiendas de barrio de la cercanía.A nivel complementario, los mercados mayoristas son de difícil acceso para los productores que quieren organizarse para comercializar en común sus productos en los mercados físicos de Cali no tienen espacios organizados para eso y se ven casi obligados a comercializar en los supermercados. Como, en muchos casos, pueden con dificultad responder a las condiciones de calidad o de contratos comerciales de esos supermercados, esas dificultades limitan las inversiones de los pequeños productores en el aumento de la producción de hortalizas.Ciertos supermercados, como el Super Inter y el Merca Mío, compran sus productos frescos prioritariamente a los productores. Estas dos cadenas no tienen un centro de abastecimiento en la ciudad, por eso, los productores tienen que pasar cada día por todos los almacenes de la cadena para ofrecer sus productos. Otras cadenas como Comfandi o LA14 tienen sus productores aprobados y capacitados.Dependiendo del producto y de la oferta, los supermercados también compran a intermediarios y/o de CAVASA, siempre intentando involucrar la menor cantidad de intermediarios. La compra en CAVASA tiene ciertas desventajas para los supermercados: ellos mismos tienen que ir hasta CAVASA para comprar los productos (mencionado por SuperInter y Éxito), y  los productos en CAVASA son menos frescos y se venden en unidades inapropiadas para los supermercados (se venden en bultos mientras que ellos compran en kilos o toneladas). Para el caso de compra por intermediarios, los supermercados tienen por lo general ciertos intermediarios fijos para abastecerse.El Éxito, el SuperInter y el Mercamío son cadenas que compran gran parte (entre 70 y 85 %) de sus frutas y verduras (frescas) directamente de los productores. También Comfandi o La14 se abastecen de frutas directamente del productor. Sin embargo, para estas dos cadenas son volúmenes más pequeños y con productores específicamente capacitados.Entrevistas con informantes claves (no representativas) identifican que alrededor del 80 % del abastecimiento de los supermercados se hace por compra por contratos directos a asociaciones de productores o productores y 20 % por intermediarios como por ejemplo la empresa Agrofresco que compra a productores para vender a los supermercados.La falta de armonización y de legislación de los estándares de calidad en los supermercados se traduce en una fragmentación de los mercados de compra y de venta que no aseguran las transparencias de los precios. Cada supermercado tiene actualmente diferentes normas (privadas) que forman diferentes precios de venta o a la compra (usando por ejemplo \"empaques de productos diferentes\"). Eso permite difícilmente a la población vulnerable (productores o consumidores) tener una idea clara sobre la situación del mercado. Por supuesto esta ausencia de transparencia es un problema de eficacidad colectiva.Según informantes claves, algunos de los comedores comunitarios se abastecen en el Banco de Alimentos que recibe donaciones de alimentos y otros productos por parte de cadenas de supermercados, empresas y federaciones (véase memoria Banco de Alimentos). Los comedores comunitarios encuestados (La Pastoral Cali) se abastecieron por un lado en el Banco de Alimentos y por otra parte a través de donaciones monetarias. Los responsables de compra de los comedores comunitarios realizan sus compras, por lo general, en los supermercados cercanos (por las ofertas) y/o en las tiendas de barrio.El Proyecto de la Alimentación Escolar se ejecuta solo desde el 2013 en Cali. La alimentación que se entrega no representa una comida completa sino un complemento alimenticio. Los comedores escolares pueden recibir la alimentación de dos formas diferentes, 1) alimentos empacados entregados por empresas (el \"menú\" completo), 2) alimentos preparados de productos frescos en las instituciones escolares (véase memoria PAE).La empresa Quick & Tasty que es el proveedor principal de refrigerios (platos preparados) de los mercados institucionales: Programa Alimentación Escolar, Bienestar Familia y las cadenas de supermercados Los productos frescos vienen raramente de pequeños productores debido a que ellos no siempre pueden entregar las cantidades y productos requeridos y, aparte de esto, se les dificulta por el modo de pago por parte de las instituciones gubernamentales (que es cada 90 días).En una situación donde hay pocas plazas de mercados accesibles a los productores (insuficiencia de las inversiones públicas en las infraestructuras de mercados en Cali), los pequeños productores intentan algunas veces comercializar en los supermercados pero la mayoría de los pequeños productores son incapaces de vender sus productos a los grandes supermercados porque no pueden cumplir ni con los estándares de calidad ni con los horarios de entrega de los grandes supermercados. Además, los precios de compras de los supermercados son muy bajos (GUARÍN 2013).Si bien algunos actores indican que faltan organizaciones de productores para incluir los pequeños productores en el abastecimiento del mercado de productos frescos, a nosotros nos parece más bien que es por falta de oportunidades para comercializar en los mercados físicos y por los bajos precios de compra de los supermercados que quedan elementos que bloquean las inversiones de los pequeños productores para formar organizaciones colectivas de comercialización de sus productos.Con la dificultad de acceso a los mercados, los circuitos cortos que son calificados en la literatura (revisión bibliográfica) como los principales medios que permiten integrar los pequeños productores al abastecimiento de los mercados son muy débiles en este sistema (opción del circuito corto de las cadenas de supermercado que funcionan con contratos). Un circuito corto se define como una situación sin intermediario o con máximo un intermediario en el proceso de venta desde el productor hasta el consumidor (Chifoleau, et al. 2013).Existe en Cali un solo mercado agroecológico que permite a pequeños productores que tienen productos naturales poder abastecer la población de clase media y alta ya que la población de bajos recursos no tiene los recursos para realizar compras en este tipo de mercado. Este único mercado manejado por la asociación de productores agroecológicos existe con el acuerdo de Comfandi que autoriza el acceso a un sitio. Según las últimas informaciones Comfandis prohíbe el acceso al espacio de comercialización por lo que este único mercado podría desparecer.Otras ocasiones de circuitos cortos pueden ser identificadas en la situación siguiente: compras directas de consumidores en el centro de Cali (Calle 10#10) donde venden productores de las zonas rurales de Cali ciertos productos (hierbas, plantas medicinales, flores).  varios mercados móviles en la ciudad pero no se ha podido comprobar cuales están realmente en funcionamiento y quienes venden y compran allí. La razón de compra es la cercanía al lugar de residencia y los precios económicos de los productos  proyecto de Valle en Paz en el mercado de Cavasa La identificación de todas esas ocasiones y el análisis de sus condiciones de desarrollo tendrían que ser confirmado en las próximas etapas del proyecto.Las diferentes informaciones y conocimientos identificados durante las entrevistas permiten establecer un primer borrador de gráfico de representación de las cadenas de abastecimiento alimentario de la población vulnerable. Los \"n\" indican el número de actores (vendedores, empresas) identificados en las encuestas/entrevistas o con las diferentes fuentes. Este gráfico no tiene como objetivo referirse al número de supermercados o de mercados móviles.El análisis del funcionamiento debe ocuparse de rastrear los lugares, ya en el espacio, ya en el tiempo, ya en las organizaciones, donde pueden encontrarse las posibles razones del problema de seguridad alimentaria de la población pobre. Estos problemas, cuando se les estudia en relación con el modelo causal y la definición de \"seguridad alimentaria\", suelen girar alrededor de: el acceso, los precios, la calidad, la regularidad. En el estado presente de nuestros instrumentos teóricos y del conocimiento que hemos recabado en las bases de datos disponibles, el análisis del funcionamiento se focaliza en el uso de los bases de datos disponibles a nivel de los precios de las empresas involucradas en el sistema de distribución de alimentos.Aquí procederemos a un análisis de los datos disponibles sobre la evolución de los precios alimentarios en Cali, para determinar las tendencias desfavorables a la seguridad alimentaria de la población vulnerable.Movilizamos dos fuentes de datos: respectivamente los datos del DANE sobre Cali y un análisis comparativo con un promedio de 8 otras ciudades de Colombia que son Baranquilla, Bogotá, Bucarama, Cartagena, Cucuta, Manizales, Medellin, Monteria, Neiva, Paso, Pereira, Vilavicencio.El índice de precio al consumidor es cada año más elevado en Cali que el promedio nacional, y eso de manera significativa entre 2010 y 2012 y las informaciones que tenemos sobre los años 2013, 2014 indican que esa diferencia aumenta con el tiempo. Eso significa que la población vulnerable de Cali tiene, de manera general, menos acceso económico a los productos alimentarios, ya que los ingresos en la ciudad no son más altos que en otras ciudades 2 .Si nos interesamos por los precios de los productos importantes para una alimentación saludable como los jugos naturales: el diferencial de precio entre los jugos en Cali y los jugos de las otras ciudades es más amplio que el diferencial de los precios de todos los otros productos.Si nos interesamos por la diferencia de precio de un promedio de 20 productos (frutas y verduras): el diferencial de precio entre Cali y las otras ciudades es más amplio que el diferencial precedente sobre los jugos naturales.El acceso a los productos saludables que son los jugos de frutas y de las frutas es mucho más difícil para las poblaciones vulnerables en Cali que en cualquier otra ciudad del país. Eso en un contexto donde el nivel de los ingresos de la población de Cali es más bajo que en las otras ciudades del país (Pena J., 2015).Las observaciones precedentes son promedios de una canasta de alimentos. Dentro de esta canasta hay situaciones particulares según los productos. Hemos buscado algunas de esas situaciones y encontramos dos buenas sorpresas para una alimentación saludable de la población vulnerable.Primera buena noticia: los precios del plátano son 20 % más bajos para el consumidor de Cali que para el de las otras ciudades. Eso se comprueba con otros productos básicos y muestra que la población vulnerable de Cali tiene un buen acceso comparativo a productos energéticos. Otra buena noticia: el diferencial de precio entre Cali y las otras ciudades sobre el tomate no es tan importante en el largo plazo (Anexo 7).Segunda buena noticia: los precios de las gaseosas son 20 % más elevados en Cali que en todas las otras ciudades. Eso quiere decir que la población vulnerable no tiene un bueno acceso a esos productos que nos son buenos para la salud.Ilustración 10: Las buenas noticias de (algunos) preciosEl resultado sobre los precios (relativamente altos) de las gaseosas podría parecer extraño porque la industria de producción de Gaseosas de Colombia está principalmente concentrada en Cali y exporta a las otras ciudades. Esta observación nos conduce a establecer la hipótesis que el disfuncionamiento mayor del sistema de abastecimiento alimentario se logra con el sistema de distribución de los alimentos. Para comprobar esta hipótesis hemos analizado los datos disponibles sobre la estructura de la oferta del sistema de distribución de los alimentos en la ciudad de Cali.Movilizando la base de datos de la Cámara de Comercio sobre 5 600 empresas del sector de la comercialización de los alimentos en Cali. Usamos dos indicadores de análisis de concentración de las cadenas de distribución que son respectivamente: los activos y los empleos. Eso nos permite construir la tabla 4 y las observaciones siguientes: 11 empresas de comercio de alimentación (cadenas de supermercados principalmente) representan menos de 1 porcentaje del total de las empresas de este sector, pero realizan: o 85 porcentaje de los activos o 41 % del empleo del sector  5486 microempresas (menos de 2 empleos por empresa) que son las tiendas de barrios principalmente y que abastecen en su mayoría a la población vulnerable constituyen un 96% del total de las empresas del sector, pero realizan o 43 % del empleo (más que los supermercados) o solamente 2 % de los activos.Entre los dos grupos, es decir el nivel de los otros intermediarios hay pocas empresas.En relación con esas observaciones cuantitativas establecemos la hipótesis de que las cadenas de supermercados manejan alrededor de 60 à 70 % de la distribución de la alimentación de la población vulnerable pobre (hemos visto que las tiendas de barrio se abastecen en parte en las cadenas de supermercados). Esta hipótesis define claramente una situación que se califica en economía de \"oligopolio\".Un oligopolio es un mercado dominado por un pequeño número de vendedores o prestadores de servicios, debido a que hay pocos participantes en este tipo de mercado. En un oligopolio se establece una situación de equilibrio en el grupo de oferentes, con lo cual deja de existir competencia de mercado... Lo trascendente por tanto, en el oligopolio, es la falta de competencia real, lo cual afecta a los consumidores (demandantes de bienes o servicios). Por medio de su posición, las empresas oligopólicas ejercen poder de mercado provocando efectos negativos para los consumidores entre los que se cuentan: que los precios sean más altos, la producción sea inferior, bajos niveles de calidad o impidiendo el ingreso de nuevos oferentes.Hay dos impactos mayores de un oligopolio sobre el funcionamiento de un sistema de alimentación. La primera es que la competencia en realidad no existe. El comercio está destinado a un número limitado de oferentes (Empresas), ya que éstas manejan más del 60-70 % del mercado. La segunda es que se utiliza mucho el dumping (bajar los precios, incluso por debajo de los costos de producción es decir los precios de compra a los productores), es decir une estructura de mercado donde hay pocos vendedores frente a bastantes compradores.La situación de oligopolio permite explicar que las condiciones de contratos entre los supermercados y los productores sean muy difíciles para los productores que no tienen muchas oportunidades de comercialización. Eso favorece más a los grandes productores que pueden responder a los contratos.En esta estructura de mercado, desde un punto de vista teórico, se sabe que la poca transparencia no permite la correlación entre los precios a los consumidores que pueden subir y los precios a los productores que pueden bajar al mismo tiempo (lo que se puede observar para las gaseosas).Por supuesto eso explicaría que los precios de los alimentos en la ciudad son muy elevados (lo que hemos verificado haciendo la comparación con las otras ciudades del país) y que los precios a los agricultores son muy bajos. Por supuesto esos no tienen incentivos a inversiones en la comercialización de sus productos para abastecer el mercado de alimentación. Con una encuesta directa sobre algunos productos realizada en el proyecto, mostramos en el gráfico siguiente que los precios en los supermercados grandes o pequeños son muchos más altos que en las tiendas y en el mercado de Santa Elena.Tabla 4 : Estructura de empresas del sistema de comercialización de alimentos de CaliEl oligopolio quiere decir también que los márgenes de comercialización que agarran los supermercados son muy elevadas. Por otra parte, significa que el problema del sistema de abastecimiento de la ciudad de Cali no son los intermediarios sino que no hay suficiente número de intermediarios y competencia en el sistema de comercialización de alimentos para que el sistema de precios realice sus funciones principales de ajustar la oferta a la demanda.Ilustración 11 : Acceso a frutas y verduras en Cali: indicador de precioEl estudio descriptivo/calitativo y de funcionamiento del subsistema de abastecimiento y de producción de alimentos incluyendo el proceso de abastecimiento de la población vulnerable permite identificar las dificultades mayores que encuentra esa población en el acceso suficiente a una alimentación saludable -con productos frescos. Un problema mayor se encuentra en los precios muy elevados de esos productos en un contexto donde los ingresos de la población vulnerable de Cali son más bajos que en las otras ciudades. El carácter elevado de esos precios se explica por la estructura oligopólica del sistema de distribución de alimentos que se concentra en las cadenas de supermercados. Otro problema reside en la falta de acceso a los mercados en las comunas de bajo estrato social que se traduce con un costo de transportes y logístico más elevado para la poblaciones vulnerables que para las otras poblaciones. Las tiendas son el principal lugar de abastecimiento de las poblaciones vulnerables pero hemos visto que esas tiendas se abastecen por una parte en el mercado de Santa Elena que tiene problemas de calidad sanitaria y por otra parte en las cadenas de supermercados donde los precios de venta son elevados. Los circuitos que permiten a los pequeños productores de las zonas de proximidad abastecer la ciudad en alimentos son identificados en algunas situaciones pero siguen siendo marginales. El único mercado de productos agroecológicos que permite a los pequeños productores una comercialización directa tiene actualmente dificultades con la falta de acceso al lugar de venta. Los elementos mayores de información y de conocimientos de este reporte han estructurado el programa y la organización del taller de restitución a los actores en la plataforma del 10 diciembre. Esta jornada permitió debatir y fortalecer una modelización de los sistemas de alimentación de la población vulnerable que se centra en los desafíos principales para las políticas públicas y en los objetivos de estudios complementarios necesarios. -Falta de recursos monetarios -Falta de continuidad en los proyectos CEDECUR -Falta de conocimiento de los productores acerca de plagas etc.-Falta de análisis de suelos CEDECUR, Asoc. de Prod. de Felidia -Alto uso de agroquímicos CEDECUR Insuficiente apoyo en la comercialización, falta de sitios de venta directa IMCA, CEDECUR Falta de organización entre los productores CEDECUR En partes, los productores no se animan a mejorar sus condiciones ellos mismos sino que esperan todo el apoyo del gobierno  política paternalista CEDECUR Costos de transporte para los productores IMCA Alta dependencia de los intermediarios por parte de los pequeños productores IMCA, CEDECUR Alto poder de los supermercados: piden grandes volúmenes y pagan tarde (dentro de 1 o 2 semanas); también los programas gubernamentales de los comedores escolares pagaron solo después de 90 días IMCA, CEDECUR Situación legal caótica de predio de las galerías, falta de seguridad OXFAM, CEDECUR Falta de voluntad de la parte del gobierno en apoyar los productores IMCA Alta influencia de grupos de poder (los papeleros, los caneros, los ganaderos) en la política pública, falta de gobernanza continua IMCA Falta de consumidores solidarios IMCA 6.2 Anexo 2. Glosario de actores del sistema de abastecimiento AfroZorca AfroZorca es una organización que trabaja con alrededor de 30 asociaciones de campesinos de la zona rural de Cali. Tiene recursos económicos para apoyar proyectos productivos y mejorar la calidad de vida de los campesinos. AfroZorca también colabora con VallenPaz. CEDECUR http://www.cedecur.org/mision-vision.html El Centro de Educación e Investigación para el Desarrollo Comunitario Urbano y Rural, CEDECUR, es una Organización de la sociedad civil no gubernamental (ONG), tiene 32 años, sin ánimo de lucro y regida por derecho privado. Misión Contribuir al desarrollo equitativo de la Sociedad Colombiana, a través de la investigación, asesoría, asistencia técnica, interventoría, capacitación y ejecución de programas y proyectos de carácter social, ambiental, productivo y agropecuario, integrales y/o sectoriales con personas y organizaciones, comunidades urbanas y rurales, sustentadas en los componentes de institucionalidad y participación comunitaria.Asesoría técnica y capacitación a las unidades productivas campesinas y las cadenas agropecuarias urbanas y rurales, para que reciban formación en el manejo de los recursos naturales para el desarrollo de proyectos ambientalmente sostenibles.Las acciones y proyectos de esta área corresponden a temáticas como: Elaboración de planes generales de asistencia técnica -PGAT.  Fortalecimiento de asociaciones de campesinos.  Asistencia Técnica Agropecuaria.  Asesoría en Buenas Prácticas Agrícolas.  Fortalecimiento de organizaciones campesinas.Comfandi fue fundado por una iniciativa del estado en los años 1950 como caja de compensación con la función de compensar los trabajadores con servicios adicionales aparte del salario -por ejemplo servicios de educación, de salud, de vivienda, de diversión y también los supermercados. Comfandi es competitivo en la parte de medicamentos, alimentos y también ciertos productos no-alimentos. Comfandi solo existe en el departamento del Valle del Cauca, en total hay 25 sedes de los cuales 12 están ubicadas en Cali. Comfandi posicionó sus supermercados de manera poliestrato desde estrato 1 a 5. Sin embargo, la mayoría de las sedes está en sectores populares. Comfandi tiene diferentes productos y ofertas para poblaciones de bajos recursos: Precios más bajos en unos pocos sectores (precio diferencial), bonos de 50 % del valor de la compra para clientes que están incluidos en la caja de compensación (son solo ciertos días cuando dan estos bonos), programa \"vecino fiel\" que permite acumular puntos con los cuales los clientes pueden recibir bonos y ciertos días hay descuentos de 30-40 % en productos básicos como la papa, la cebolla, el tomate, la yuca, la naranja, el limón, la papaya, el aguacate, la manzana o la habichuela.Es una cadena de supermercados que forma parte del Grupo Éxitoel Grupo Éxito une varias cadenas de supermercados, entre ellas están la Carulla, el Super Inter y el Éxito mismo. La cadena del Éxito tiene alrededor de 500 almacenes en toda Colombia y 8 almacenes en Cali. Los almacenes dentro de Cali están ubicados en áreas de todos los estratos excepto el estrato 1. Sin embargo, la clientela del Éxito viene de todos los estratos. El Éxito tiene una estrategia dirigida hacia la mujer pero no tienen un enfoque a cierta clientela/clase económica. Existe una marca, los productos \"econo\", que están específicamente diseñados para poblaciones de bajos recursos. Esta línea también incluye productos frescos (frutas y verduras).(Información de Milton Guerrero, negociador de frutas y verduras del Éxito Cali) Grupo de investigación en agroecología de la Universidad Nacional sede Palmira El grupo de investigación en agroecología se formó hace 25 años y desde hace 12 años está catalogado por Colciencias como A 3 . La Universidad Nacional de Palmira fue pionera en establecer estudios académicos acerca de la agroecología en Colombia. El grupo de investigación trabaja en enseñanza, investigación y extensión. El enfoque de la agroecología es, al contrario de la producción orgánica, integral. Eso quiere decir que no solo se trata de substituir abonos y pesticidas sino que es un concepto holístico y sistémico que también incluye aspectos políticos, como por ejemplo garantizar la soberanía alimentaria. El proceso va desde el control de la semilla, la cosecha, el procesamiento hasta la comercialización.Los proyectos del grupo de agroecología incluyen todos los pasos: el apoyo en la enseñanza, en la producción, en la comercialización, en la construcción de certificación de los productos y en parte también en las políticas públicas. Más concreto, ellos van a diferentes fincas en el Valle y hacen diagnósticos para identificar problemas y limitaciones y posibles soluciones (por ejemplo formas de riego, manejo sostenible de vacas para hacer compost, organizar mercados). Las fincas agroecológicas producen por lo general una gran cantidad de diferentes frutas y hortalizas, siguiendo el concepto agroecológico que incluye sacar provecho de la simbiosis entre diferentes especies. Aparte de esto tuvieron un proyecto enfocado en los servicios ecosistémicos de la agricultura familiar campesina que está enfocado por un lado a ver las fincas agroecológicas como una entidad social/familiar y por otro lado como una entidad que favorece los servicios ecosistémicos como proteger el agua, los suelos, capturar CO2 y otros GEI, fortalecer la presencia de animales silvestres y razas criollas.El grupo de investigación y la red de mercados agroecológicos elaboraron en un proyecto un sistema participativo de garantía. Se trata de un certificado de confianza (como un sello de certificación) que garantiza que los productos fueron producidos bajo diferentes principios y cumpliendo ciertas reglas de producción. Aparte de esto apoyaron a ciertos mercados en la comercialización y presentación de los productosincluyendo la presentación de los productos en las mesas, el diseño de ropa que indica que se trata de productores agroecológicos etc. Uno de los mercados agroecológicos de referencia es el mercado de Tuluá. Este mercado funciona muy bien y está conformado por 12 productores que tienen un vínculo muy directo con el consumidor.http://www.imca.org.co/quienes_somos.php?id_quienes=1Es una ONG orientada por la Compañía de Jesús y han venido acompañando desde 1962 a las comunidades campesinas más necesitadas del centro del Valle del Cauca, Colombia. En conjunto con diferentes actores sociales e institucionales, contribuyen a la construcción y consolidación de propuestas de vida y proyectos de desarrollo territorial de impacto local, regional y nacional.Tiene un enfoque a la sostenibilidad, tanto ambiental como social. La institución acompaña procesos de formación, planificación investigación, construcción de conocimiento y gestión de la sostenibilidad.Actualidad. A finales del Siglo XX y principios del Siglo XXI, la agudeza del conflicto armado en el Valle del Cauca afecta directamente las comunidades acompañadas por el IMCA, la respuesta es la construcción de alternativas de vida y de paz en medio del conflicto como una forma de superarlo y de acompañar a las víctimas en sus procesos de resistencia pacífica y a las comunidades desplazadas para su retorno y/o reubicación.El IMCA apuesta por esa dinámica a través de tres procesos: la consolidación de alternativas productivas de seguridad y soberanía alimentaria y nutricional (abordando la construcción de políticas públicas, autoconsumo y mercadeo alternativo, conservación de recursos genéticos, biodiversidad y el patrimonio hídrico); formación para la sostenibilidad regional (a través de las escuelas de formación campesina a nivel regional y nacional, en convenio con el CINEP y la Fundación San Isidro); y la construcción y fortalecimiento del tejido social y la democracia (donde se promueve el fortalecimiento y la articulación de las organizaciones campesinas en torno a dinámicas regionales y la cualificación de las relaciones interinstitucionales).En la actualidad, el IMCA en coordinación con la institucionalidad local y apoyados por el proceso de regionalización de la Compañía de Jesús en el Valle del Cauca, acompaña el Programa de Gestión Participativa de la Sostenibilidad Local y Regional. Desde el Programa de Sostenibilidad Local y Regional se ponen en práctica las estrategias de formación continua con énfasis en Participación y cultura política; planificación territorial participativa para la formulación de Planes de Vida, Planes de Desarrollo Municipal, conformación y renovación de Consejos Territoriales de Planeación, Concejos Municipales de Desarrollo Rural, Comités Interinstitucionales de Educación, entre otros; Gestión de proyectos, donde nos jugamos el mejoramiento de la calidad de vida de familias y comunidades en la gestión, ejecución, seguimiento y evaluación de proyectos locales y regionales de sostenibilidad. Finalmente, la investigación y sistematización del proceso se realiza en coordinación con la academia, de tal manera que se pueda aportar la experiencia a otros actores, sectores y regiones.Es una confederación internacional no gubernamental, compuesta por 17 organizaciones que trabajan junto a organizaciones socias y comunidades locales en más de 90 países, proporcionando ayuda de emergencia, llevando a cabo proyectos de desarrollo a largo plazo y haciendo campaña por un futuro más justo. El objetivo es restablecer el equilibrio para que las personas tengan acceso a recursos necesarios para mejorar sus vidas y medios de subsistencia, y para que puedan participar en la toma de las decisiones que afectan a sus vidas. Las áreas de trabajo son las siguientes: derecho a ser escuchadas -alzar la voz para decidir, derechos de la mujer, desigualdad y servicios sociales básicos, recursos naturales, salvar vidas, sistemas alimentarios sostenibles: Trabajan para conseguir que las pequeñas explotaciones sean más rentables formando a los productores locales para que puedan aplicar nuevas técnicas de cultivo más sostenibles. Ayudan a los agricultores y agricultoras a adaptarse a los efectos del cambio climático y a asegurar y proteger su acceso a la tierra.En Colombia han desarrollado proyectos de investigación en convenio con la Universidad Nacional \"Seguridad alimentaria, Políticas y nuevos modelos de negocios entre pequeños productores y mercados en tres contexto de América Latina\" 2011.Es un organismo de la iglesia católica que realiza acciones de asistencia social, promoción integral de las personas y las comunidades; se enfoca primordialmente a favorecer a los sectores más vulnerables de la ciudad. En la ciudad se encargan de la asistencia y seguimiento de 23 comedores comunitarios y de garantizar la disponibilidad de alimentos provenientes de donaciones y del banco de alimentos.http://www.sagvalle.org/index.php Es una entidad sin ánimo de lucro que representa y agremia a los agricultores y ganaderos del Valle del Cauca, participa en la definición de la política agropecuaria a nivel regional y nacional, presta servicios de asistencia técnica agropecuaria de manera integral con proyección a nivel nacional e internacional; brindando un acompañamiento en la formulación, gestión y administración de proyectos, a través de talento humano idóneo y capaz, con tecnología de información actualizada para ofrecer a todos sus asociados un servicio de alta calidad, en busca del crecimiento y consolidación del gremio, y una generación de ingresos apropiada para la autosostenibilidad de la organización.Sus objetivos, entre otros, son identificar y promover negocios agroempresariales, identificar las oportunidades de inversión, propiciar negocios (crear conciencia exportadora), promover proyectos agroindustriales y obtener y difundir información. Aparte de esto quieren participar en las decisiones y la formulación de políticas del sector a nivel nacional y regional, liderar la vocería del sector, propiciar espacios de concertación y conciliación entre los diferentes actores de la actividad productiva y el Lobbying. Actualmente tienen 48 miembros afiliados.Es una cadena de supermercados en Colombia que tiene 26 almacenes en el Valle del Cauca y 26 almacenes en la zona cafetera. El Super Inter fue en gran partes comprado por el Grupo Éxito en el año 2014. Dentro de Cali tienen almacenes en el Norte, en el Centro y en el Sur pero no hay almacenes en el Distrito de Agua Blanca y ni en la zona ladera. La oferta del Super Inter se dirige a todo tipo de clientela, sin embargo los almacenes están ubicados principalmente en barrios de estrato 1 y 2. No tienen una línea de productos que fue diseñada específicamente para poblaciones de bajos recursos pero cada fin de semana hay un descuento del 20 % en ciertos cítricos y verduras.Unidad de asistencia Técnica Agropecuaria es un eje temático de la Secretaría de Desarrollo Territorial y Bienestar Social, tiene como labor generar acciones tendientes a mejorar, orientar, apoyar y fortalecer las actividades productivas de los pequeños y medianos productores de los corregimientos del Municipio de Santiago de Cali en asuntos de aptitud de los suelos, selección del tipo de actividad agrícola, aplicación y uso de tecnologías y recursos, mercadeo, promoción de la organización de los productores, entre otros, a través de la asistencia técnica directa rural, conforme lo definido en la ley 607 de 2000.Realizan un trabajo dedicado y constante con los pequeños productores de los diferentes corregimientos de Cali, sin embargo los recursos para la ejecución de sus propuestas son limitados.Es una corporación privada sin ánimo de lucro dedicada a incentivar el desarrollo humano y socioeconómico de los pequeños agricultores de las regiones más azotadas por el conflicto armado, en el suroccidente colombiano. Fue creada en enero de 2000 y actualmente tiene cerca de 800 miembros de las más diversas procedencias: empresas, iglesias, universidades, ONG, entidades privadas y gubernamentales, además de ciudadanos de todas las etnias que viven en su zona de influencia. Para su operación, VallenPaz moviliza recursos del sector público, de la empresa privada y de cooperantes internacionales, con una inversión total 18.6 millones de dólares, en 10 años. Estos son los recursos con los que ha financiado la totalidad de sus intervenciones en el suroccidente colombiano, brindando acompañamiento a 8876 familias.La metodología de intervención que utiliza VallenPaz ha definido líneas de acción que agrupan las actividades que dan contenido al trabajo de acompañamiento a las familias rurales: Organización social, Empresarial; Seguridad alimentaria; Productiva; Infraestructura productiva y riego; Comercial; Cultura de Paz y derechos humanos. VallenPaz realiza programas en 31 municipios de los departamentos del Valle del Cauca, del Cauca, Nariño y Risaralda. En el Valle del Cauca interviene las zonas rurales de los municipios de Palmira, Pradera, Cerrito, Florida, Jamundí, Dagua, Buenaventura y en la zona rural de Cali."}

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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"9cee944efe13c588f0b3a651b5249078","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/0b86e46f-9b84-4065-9fe1-1b484f079a3d/retrieve","id":"1014510220"},"keywords":["rural education","livestock","generational transfer","youth","orality"],"sieverID":"ab13e7ff-e132-4e4b-98b6-0ef867dac3bd","content":"Low schooling rates among livestock producing families are found to be a key element preventing an effective generational transfer and an achievable gender and social equality. Simultaneously, a persistent low literacy rate in the countryside and amongst livestock productors themselves in Colombia are now understood as a critical factor hindering the sector's productivity and sustainability in the long term. While sociological and anthropological approximations to Colombian rurality have unveiled the historically urgent necessity to promote and strengthen educative processes as means to effectively (and in an egalitarian manner) integrate national peasantry into nationhood, educational coverage, especially at the technical and professional level, still falls short. As this is notably relevant for the livestock sector in the country, in this study we approach such subjects through a close historical examination of the case study \"Heirs of Tradition\", an initiative carried out by Alquería's (a major Colombian dairy company) farmer training program. The objectives of this work are to assess the impact achieved through Alquería's educational initiative amongst young farmers over the last eight years in terms of generational transfer, gender equality, and a continuous link with a modernizing dairy sector. We based our analysis on information obtained through in-depth interviews and the review of primary and secondary sources. Findings first suggest that cooperation between different actors (such as state educational centers and private companies) is crucial to address a major threat to livestock production: generational relief and the massive migration of young people from rural to urban areas. Second, education initiatives and technical support can both transform, to a certain extent, the low schooling rates amongst rural producers and contribute to closing the gender gap that persists in the Colombian livestock sector. We also shed light on the achievements and the lessons learned from \"Heirs of Tradition\", highlighting the subjects and issues that could be better addressed, and overall emphasizing how the continuity of such ventures favors knowledge transfer, empowers communities and benefits livestock producers across the country. Our goal is not only centered on somewhat improving Alquería's program but also underlining what others can learn from this particular case.The subject of rural education and its impact on younger generations of livestock producers is a largely unexplored topic in the country. While contemporary readings in both rural literacy and livelihoods are indeed a growing field of research and analysis, broadly speaking, academic voices have paved the path to -know more-about livestock producing families, their ways of life, their business ventures and their productive practices (Bruniard et al., 2007;Gallo & Peluso, 2013;Gras, 2012;Toruño-Morales, 2012, Triana & Burkart, 2019).The comprehension of family units and the theorization over the pivotal role of all members through gendered readings have furthered our understanding of rurality and is now a well-established field on its own right, the specific case of literacy amongst livestock producing families remains in the shadow and so does the impact of educational resources in overcoming gender-based discrimination and tackling a poor generational transfer.This article thus deals with the intersections of such labyrinthic matters, presenting a historical overview of the program Heirs of Tradition (2012Tradition ( -2020)), led by the private dairy company Alquería and SENA (Colombian National Learning Center). Alquería, one of Colombia's largest dairy companies, launched in 2012 a training program targeting the sons and daughters of small-scale milk producers with several purposes: first, to establish a stronger relationship with loyal suppliers across the country; second, to inform and empower younger generations with the necessary technical knowledge to promote a more sustainable, productive and modern stock farming and third, to tackle low schooling rates amongst their families. This case study aims to reconstruct the story of the training program qualitatively, both by building on Alquería's Livestock Development department's archives and integrating the voices and testimonies of students and alumni in an attempt to evaluate its impact over time, assess the transformations it brought to producer's families and underscore the ongoing challenges it faces. Here we argue that an educational project such as Heirs of Tradition was (and is) successful in helping families overcome the difficulties of generational transfer, in empowering younger generations with pertinent knowledge related to their socalled \"traditional\" (or family-inherited) job, and in promoting, to a certain extent, more solid, transferable basis towards gender equality. The subsequent sections will illustrate such revision by bridging Alquería's eight-year job in the field with scholarly debates on rurality, education, and livestock production in Colombia.Through archival and ethnographical methodologies, this work highlights and revisits the history of this case study, evidencing the many Colombian regions that benefited from these ongoing projects like such and how, if so, it impacts (and aids) the permanence of young generations in the livestock sector as well as promote the implementation of better environmental practices, transforming family relations and gendered hierarchies through the continuous access to education. In reconstructing the memory of the program through alumni and student's concerns and voices we rethink the meaning and making of research and learning as a praxis, following the sociological legacy of Orlando Fals Borda, hopefully contributing, not only to empower younger generations but transforming their learning settings underway.When conceptualizing and understanding the impact and importance of rural education in Colombia, longstanding sociological readings must be revisited. The name of Orlando Fals Borda, the country's most salient academic in the subject over the course of the twentieth century, stands as a major point of departure. Fals Borda's research agenda was mostly centered around two fronts: a) promoting a conscious understanding as to why and how rural inhabitants needed to be included in nation-state formation processes through an egalitarian access to education, and b) making such dynamic horizontal and democratic. With a research agenda traversed by a deep necessity to know local realities firsthand, Fals Borda widely employed participatory methods such as Participatory Action Research where communities were involved in all stages of ethnographic processes, reconstructed territorialities through orality and written memory and actively engaged in (re)claiming and transforming their livelihoods (Fals Borda, 2017;Fals Borda & Brandao, 1986;Carrero & González, 2016;Quintero, 2019). Deeply concerned with the country's historical inequality and committed to transform it from a critical vantage point of the academy, Fals Borda understood that rural Colombians, although quintessential for the economic, cultural and political life of the country, were mostly oppressed, wiped, and left out of envisioning national projects of unity and development.We must highlight how, after the first half of the twentieth century, Colombia's political leaders and governments in turn attempted to integrate rural communities into larger and more comprehensive educational projects. Even though (inefficient) agrarian reforms (Law 200/1936, Law 135/1961, Law 60/1994) and policies towards economic growth and development sought to articulate peasant Colombians into agendas of modernization and the crafting of a more solid nation-state, their scope was limited and fragmented, and fell short in actually overcoming the social inequalities of the rural country (Trujillo, 2014;ANCUR, 2012;Garrido, 1969;Uribe, 2009). Unsubstantial educational coverage and growing political (bipartisan) tensions in the countryside, that would later become a painful and bloody civil war, further deepened the division between rurality and urbanity, preventing the factual and plausible integration of peasant communities into Colombia's long-awaited road to progress (Carrero & González, 2016;Quintero, 2019). Furthermore, uneven, pervasive land concentration in the hands of few compounded existing tensions and social demands. This results especially relevant within the livestock sector, as several elite, large scale meat entrepreneurs have been historically associated with paramilitary armed factions in the defense of their economic interests right in the midst of armed confrontation between state forces and insurgent organizations (Karl, 2017). Fals Borda and all other authors and academics (Fals Borda, 2017;Fals Borda & Brandao, 1986;Carrero & González, 2016;Quintero, 2019) pushing for an adequate and responsible comprehension of rural inhabitant's problematics and realities were far from endorsing armed revolutionary agendas. Instead, their intellectual work was devoted to the understanding of localized realities and stressing the pivotal importance of educating peasant communities. The democratic access to education and the crafting of learning environments that met the requirements and needs of the Colombian peasantry was (and still is) a fruitful avenue towards empowering rural inhabitants as citizens on their own right, claiming a much-deserved equality and transforming their livelihoods away from the shadows of dispossession and the devastating effects of a longstanding war (Karl, 2017). Hence, what would be later known as a \"Falsbordian sociology\" (Quintero, 2019;Pereira, 2009) the foundation to comprehend and conceptualize rural Colombia from within by amplifying the voices of so-called others and making them an integral part of rural narratives, protagonists of their own stories, somewhat scaping from the trap of vertical alterity.With the aim to identify the history of Alquería's educational program and its eightyear existence to assess the impact such interventions have had or might have in livestock producing families in Colombia, this study used qualitative methodologies, including: literature review and in-depth interviews, as well as archival information developed by Alquería's Livestock Development department, in charge of the program itself where a total of 189 students where surveyed regarding the number of students, precedence, and their continuity in dairy farming after completing their studies. The in-depth interviews (15 in total) were conducted between September and November 2020 remotely, due to traveling restrictions derived from COVID pandemic in the country. All interviews focused on alumni and current students of the program, and questions were aimed at understanding their personal experiences while studying, the knowledge and new abilities they gained and the difficulties and challenges they faced while enrolled in the program and afterwards. In interviews, we asked informants if their participation in such initiative was indeed relevant for their permanence in the livestock sector and which familiar and gender relations and constraints were decisive during this process. While studies on livestock production, rural studies, and rural educational matters were integrated as well, we understood in-depth interviews as key resources to grasp a detailed understanding of how, if so, educational offers or improvements of existing options in rural settings favor generational transfer amongst families, if acquired knowledge finds a way to transform production practices and if gender relations or stereotypes can be indeed transformed through such avenue.In that order, we will then present a brief history of the program, analyze the general stats of its eight-year existence and revisit the repercussions it had amongst alumni and current students. A total of 15 in-depth interviews were performed over the course of this fieldwork.Either as a contingency or by accident, the truth is that the current COVID-19 health emergency allowed us to conduct this research study and raised urgent questions on the potential impact of (private) educational initiatives amongst young, rural livestock producers in Colombia.Alquería's Heirs of Tradition program is clearly an achievement from which we can learn something. The communication and strong connection established between Alquería and its providers benefits not just the company with substantial improvements in the product received, but also the suppliers and their families, providing them with feedback and an easier access to urgent and useful information, promoting technical improvements and, in the particular case of Heirs, offering free educational opportunities precisely in the areas where these are most scarce.In addition to the long-lasting bond, components such as regional diversity, relevance of the training received, its technical accuracy, and the process for paid internships represent strengths of the program. The life stories of its students and alumni, as well as the data collected throughout these years, show that there is indeed a causal relationship between the transition from one generation to another and the possibility to access free, good quality education, providing insights into at least one of the many factors that play a crucial role in \"retaining\" youth in the countryside and in livestock production. Most interviewees reported being satisfied with the knowledge received; they recall the experience with enthusiasm and recognize the importance it had as they reached their decision to continue to work in the countryside, not falling into the traps of a harsh and troubled migration to the cities. However, as in all projects and adventures in the open sea, there are always blind spots, issues to be strengthened, considered, and rethought. Although further, more long-term analyses are planned, the results of this study show how gender parity, discrimination against women, and the proper integration and consideration of the realities of the armed conflict in Colombia stand out as the most urgent matters to be addressed. It is therefore necessary to understand to what extent regional workings of warfare affect the program's students and alumni, and to what extent it determines the feasibility of the transition from one generation to the next. Similarly, it is essential to disseminate widely gender equality as a quintessential need for all, not just for women, raising awareness and training teachers and youth participants on the harm caused by discrimination (for production as well), how damaging it is for livestock production, and the adverse effects it brings into the household.Revisiting the history of Heirs of Tradition through archives and valuable oral testimonies brought to light that there is still a lot of work to do and improvements to make, and it has been made evident in a relevant manner: listening to the account of the experiences by those who have taken part in this process is not only key, but perhaps the only way (as Fals Borda stressed several decades ago) through which a democratic and participatory research exercise can be exerted, to obtain feedback and lessons that, we hope and plan, can be materialized into changes, continuity, and renewed participatory traditions."}

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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"07867b492c9fe042c7e533cd434350a4","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/b5ede600-9b64-42e1-bcc1-e585e3feca2c/retrieve","id":"-1040279777"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"5e9390b6-d43c-4421-93ab-ca024396ff49","content":"Project objectives are being achieved through three main components and focus areas;i.Tools for documentation and assessment of FAnGR: development and testing of appropriate tools for breeding and management, as well as a framework for their implementation at community level; diversity assessment and conservation of priority breeds; and cost-benefit analysis for alternative breeds in low-input production systems.ii. iii.Market and policy analysis: stakeholder analysis; development of a conceptual framework for characterizing existing indigenous FAnGR marketing systems and guiding marketing options; identification of policies and their impact.Conservation and sustainable use of indigenous farm animal genetic resources (FAnGR) in Asia and in other regions of the developing world merit considerable attention. These regions are home to highly diverse FAnGR, which both directly and indirectly contribute significantly to their keepers' livelihoods and to humankind in many other ways.Diversity of FAnGR is, however, fast disappearing, hence an urgent need to conserve the existing functional genetic diversity. This can be achieved by sustainably improving the productivity of the existing breeds and crop-livestock production systems to respond to the current and future increases in demand for livestock products.Being centres of origin for several major livestock species (e.g. pig, chickens and goats), South and South-East Asian countries, such as Bangladesh, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Vietnam are particularly rich in genetic diversity of FAnGR.Rich diversity in these countries is being genetically eroded following indiscriminate crossbreeding and breed replacement programs. With a number of livestock breeds having already become extinct, there is a growing and urgent need to characterize and sustainably use/conserve the remaining breeds, so as to meet the increasing demand for livestock products and to be able to effectively respond to the uncertain future demands in marketing and production systems as well as to the challenges posed by climate change.The FAO Global Action Plan has identified the lack of relevant institutional capacity as a key constraint to the conservation and utilisation of FAnGR.Thus, there is an urgent need to generate evidence in partnership with livestock keeping communities and to create awareness at the community and government decision making levels on the key place and roles of FAnGR. In addition, the related links between poverty alleviation in rural areas and the improvement of livestock production through sustainable use/conservation of FAnGR diversity must be stressed.This can be achieved through:• Capacity building and training of relevant stakeholders;• Developing and making available decision-support tools and frameworks for information generation and knowledge management so as to enable prioritization, sustainable in-situ utilization, and conservation of indigenous FAnGR.Little has been done in developing countries with regard to strategies that enable the sustainable use of FAnGR for securing and improving human livelihoods. Such strategies will need to address the following aspects:• which indigenous populations/breeds exist today, and what contributions are they making to the livelihoods of their keepers?• how can such contributions of FAnGR to human livelihoods and sustained environmental health be enhanced or optimized (i.e. how can maximum economic returns be achieved)?• how can the information above be incorporated into decisions on conservation and utilization programs, and/or mainstreamed into the planning processes and resource allocation for the existing indigenous and non-indigenous FAnGRs?• how best can agricultural improvement programs be designed so as to minimize potential negative impacts on the genetic diversity of FAnGR and the environment?• how can existing policy and marketing agencies be better informed to be more supportive of sustainable utilization of indigenous FAnGRs?"}

main/part_2/0042424251.json

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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"bc208f773d8c772d609f88e2c3bea83a","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/5c82c290-a3f8-45f0-9834-080500ec95a1/retrieve","id":"-375564205"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"da6dab4e-d324-4d2a-bbf1-12e306d2c0bf","content":"Agriculture (CSA): Good practices and illustrative examples during field visits in Ghana. International Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT). Dakar, SenegalClimate change is seriously impeding the productivity and sustainability of production systems, especially in African countries south of the Sahara. Climate Smart Agriculture (CSA) is a reliable approach that aims to improve productivity, adapt and reduce greenhouse gases for more resilient and sustainable agriculture.However, the concept remains little known and unexploited by producers and all executive and technical support staff for rural development.As part of the implementation of the regional project to promote Climate-Smart Agriculture (CSA) in West Africa (AIC-BOAD) by the Regional Agency for Agriculture and Food (RAAF ) acting as Project Executing Agency, and the partnership agreement between RAAF/ECOWAS and CIAT/CGIAR, CIAT/CGIAR provides technical support for knowledge improvement and capacity building techniques, through regional This guide illustrates elements for identifying and evaluating good CSA practices on the visited sites during the regional training at Bolgatanga and Tamale in Ghana. it also includes elements to identify and evaluation of best CSA practices, and an inventory and detailed description of best CSA practices for Ghana. Each field visit during the regional trainings was organized in two (02) phases: (i) a phase of identification of site examples in collaboration with the national coordination teams of the AIC project, and (ii) a field visit phase with participants from the workshop. For the first phase, each example site was chosen from several proposals made by the national coordinators and their teams, taking into account the AIC characteristics after a pre-visit by the trainers i.e. the day before the visit with the participants.There is a diversity of CSA practices/technologies developed to adapt to climate variability.They can be grouped by subsectors such as crop production, animal and fish production, forestry, value chains and energy.The practices/technologies developed in CSA in the crop production sub-sector are oriented towards These practices can be grouped according to different categories as indicated in the Table 1 : The practices/technologies developed in the animal production sub-sector are essentially oriented towards i) the improvement of breeding systems, ii) reproduction techniques and iii) animal feeding by valorising the by-products of plant production without however compromise the environment. This involves: i) the introduction of improved breeds, ii) crossing with local breeds for good resistance to diseases, iii) the constitution of food reserves for the dry season (hay, silage, etc.), iv) the cultivation of resistant fodder varieties and v) the practice of seasonal livestock mobility ( Table 1) .Fish production practices/technologies aim to improve the performance and profitability of farming systems through good management of fish species, habitat hygiene and water quality management. In this group of practices we can cite for example i) the use of floating cages and fish ponds, ii) the fertilization of ponds, iii) the use of short-cycle fish strains (example of tilapia), iv) the breeding of fish in ponds, and v)the use of aboveground containers, etc. (Table 1 ) .The main goal here is the conservation of forest ecosystems as carbon sinks (sequestration). It brings together all planning and rational management practices of natural resources such as i) agroforestry, ii) afforestation, iii) reforestation and iv) assisted natural regeneration practices.Promoting value chains involves bringing together stakeholders from multiple parts of the value chain (producers, processors, transport, regulator, etc.) to make decisions in a coordinated manner.The practices/technologies developed aim i) at storage, ii) product conservation, iii) local processing of agricultural products and iv) the rational use of natural resources (FAO, 2017) ( Table 3.1 ). The practices/technologies developed are oriented towards: (i) the valorization of solar energy in agricultural production (powering solar pumps for irrigation), (ii) animal production (lighting of chicken coops with solar panels), and (iii) value chains (solar dryer).A detailed inventory is presented in table 1 according to the agricultural subsectors and their production subsystems.Tableau 1 : : Inventory of good agricultural CSA practices by sub-sector in GhanaSeveral examples of good CSA practices on the visited sites during the capacity building sessions have been described below (table 2) and illustrated with regard to the CSA pillars and local specificities.  In addition to these options, this guide has also inventoried, based on a literature review, several potentially best CSA practices that could support the implementation and promotion of CSA in Ghana.This guide will allow managers and technicians to guide technical and policy choices for the benefit of farmers. Compliance with good agricultural practices for climate-smart agriculture will allow producers to make their production system more resilient by minimizing climate risks and greenhouse gas emissions while ensuring sustainable agricultural production."}

main/part_2/0043930661.json

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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"f67aabebded399671474c53dccf63059","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/b4f8f1a1-5859-4683-8c1b-358c8557cefd/retrieve","id":"589363386"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"da205387-9cec-453d-849d-1d0dda281a5e","content":"The International Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT) is a CGIAR research center. CIAT works in collaboration with multiple partners to make farming more competitive, profitable, and sustainable through research-based solutions in agriculture and the environment. We help policymakers, scientists, and farmers respond to some of the most pressing challenges of our time, including food insecurity and malnutrition, climate change, and environmental degradation. Our global research contributes to several of the United Nations' Sustainable Development Goals. Headquartered in Cali, Colombia, CIAT conducts research for development in tropical regions of Latin America, Africa, and Asia. www.ciat.cgiar.org CGIAR is a global research partnership for a food-secure future, dedicated to reducing poverty, enhancing food and nutrition security, and improving natural resources. www.cgiar.orgStanley Karanja Ng'ang'a Dorcas Anyango Jalang'o Evan H. GirvetzAdoption of soil carbon enhancing practices and their impact on farm output in Western Kenya Tables Table 1:  Adoption of soil carbon practices has the capability of increasing yield, thus improving income and food availability. This paper assessed the adoption of agricultural practices that enhance soil carbon. Data from 334 households were collected in the rural areas of Western Kenya using a multistage sampling technique.The multivariate probit model and propensity score matching method were used to analyze the determinants of adoption of soil carbon practices and the impact on output, respectively. Results show that agroforestry, intercropping, terracing, and the use of inorganic fertilizer are the dominant soil carbon practices, which are discretely and diversely affected by socioeconomic, farm-level, institutional, and biophysical characteristics. However, the adoption of maize-bean intercropping alone has a great impact on maize production and increases output by approximately 240 kilograms. The findings from this study suggest that the adoption capacity of farming households can be accelerated by independently making interventions targeting individual practices rather than compounding the practices. Consequently, emphasis should target interventions that encourage the adoption of intercropping since its economic impact has been evidently underlined.IMPACT OUTPUT KENYASoil erosion and nutrient depletion cause land to become unproductive (Kassie et al., 2008). Consequently, farmers tend to invest in agricultural and sustainable land management practices (SLMP) -application of farmyard manure, terracing, stone or soil bunds, and planting trees -that have the potential to improve land productivity (Liniger et al,, 2011). The adoption of agricultural practices and SLMP that improve soil organic carbon has the potential to mitigate the effects of climate change, and increase yield, thus enhancing food security (Bekele and Drake, 2003). This is because soil organic carbon improves soil structure, 1 which, in turn, ensures the sustainability of nutrient release that is critical for crops and livestock production (Powlson et al., 2011). For example, in the Kenyan highlands, cattle manure is one SLMP with a high adoption potential due to its prospects in soil fertility enhancement and thus higher maize yield (Mugwe et al., 2009).The promotion of agricultural practices and SLMP -minimum tillage and organic fertilizer -has been found to be cost-effective for resource-poor farmers because they both increase carbon sequestration and economic returns (Li et al., 2013). However, adoption of agricultural practices and SLMP that enhance soil carbon by farmers in East Africa is still limited (Adimassu et al., 2014;Bewket, 2007). In Kenya, for example, only about 5%, 7%, and 9% of the farmers engage in water and soil conservation practices, fertilizer application, and planting trees, respectively (Bryan et al., 2009).The adoption of agricultural practices and SLMP has principally been in the western region of Kenya because of its high agricultural potential, especially in the production of staple foods such as maize and beans (Karugia and Wambugu, 2009). However, with continuous production over the years, soil fertility has continued to deteriorate (Djurfeldt et al., 2011). To counter this effect, various projects have been implemented in the area, such as Agricultural Intensification in sub-Saharan Africa (AFRINT), Kenya Agricultural Carbon Project (KACP), and the yield gap. These projects aim at intensifying production among smallholder farmers, promoting the adoption of SLMP, and establishing potential yield attainable through the use of low-cost soil fertility enhancing practices, respectively.Also, despite the promotion of climate-smart and sustainable intensification and agricultural practices within East Africa (Diwani et al., 2013;Ng'ang'a et al., 2016), adoption of these practices is stunted in Western Kenya (Antle and Stoorvogel, 2008;Mutoko et al., 2014a).For instance, the average adoption rate by farmers in Western Kenya has been estimated at 16%, 48%, and 58% for mulching, inorganic fertilizer, and legume1 Soils are composed of minerals, organic matter, water, and air. The alignment of soil particles (soil structure) holds the minerals and organic matter and retains water. The air aids in biological processes that release nutrients into the soil, while the soil water moves nutrients to various parts of the plant.intercropping, respectively (Dallimer et al., 2018). This is a clear indication that an urgent need exists to prevent further soil deterioration and enhance productivity in Western Kenya, hence the need to upscale the adoption of soil carbon practices.The extensive literature has hypothesized that socioeconomic characteristics (age, gender, education level, income), institutional characteristics (access to credit, information, and markets), farm-level characteristics (farm size, output), and biophysical characteristics (slope) have varied effects, either positive or negative, on the adoption of SLMP in Kenya (Kassie et al., 2015;Kebebe et al., 2017;Mutoko et al., 2014a;Mwangi et al., 2015;Ndiritu et al., 2014;Wainaina et al., 2016). Farmers' perceptions and know-how regarding soil fertility enhancement practices are critical in their adoption (Odendo et al., 2010). Understanding farmer characteristics provides insights that aid in interventions that would enhance the adoption of soil carbon enhancing practices. Nonetheless, information is insufficient on the determinants of the adoption of such practices in Western Kenya, and their impact on farm output. Against this background, this study accordingly attempts to fill the literature gap by assessing the determinants of the adoption of soil carbon enhancing practices and their impact on farm output in Western Kenya.The survey was administered in two counties in Western Kenya: Vihiga and Kakamega. This area has a rich and varied agro-ecological base (falling between the humid and subhumid agro-ecological zones), characterized by reliable rainfall (ranging from 1,200 to 2,000 mm annually), high temperatures (ranging from 15 to 29 °C annually), well-drained fertile soils, rocky hills, and forests (Okeyo et al., 2014;Savini et al., 2016). The area covers 8,309 square kilometers of land, and has a high population density and growth rate. For instance, according to the last population census, Vihiga and Kakamega counties have a population density of 982 and 550 persons per square kilometer, respectively, compared with the national average of 66 persons per square kilometer (KNBS, 2009).The high population density in this area has exerted pressure on the land, thus affecting settlement and farming. This has led to poor agricultural management practices and continuous crop farming, and a reduction in the size of arable land to portions that are less than 2 ha (Kamau et al., 2014;Mutoko et al., 2014b;Ogada et al., 2014). This area faces soil fertility degradation, which has led to yields that are below the agricultural potential (Odendo et al., 2010).Photo: Georgina Smith/CIATPrimary data were gathered via face-to-face interviews with smallholder farmers in Kakamega and Vihiga counties in Western Kenya using a semi-structured questionnaire. A focus group discussion (FGD) was carried out at the two study sites with farmers and various stakeholders 2 to obtain exploratory insights into the various SLMP applied by farmers. The participating farmers in the FGD were identified with the help of extension officers from the two counties, and men and women and youth from each of the sub-counties were equally represented. One extension agent and one soil expert who were conversant with the soil management practices in the study region were also identified; these were our key informants (KI). This was done to aid in the modification, development, and design of the questionnaire that was used for the study (Simon, 2006).The study targeted smallholder farmers, both adopters and non-adopters of soil carbon enhancing practices. Following Israel (1992) and Särndal and Bengt (2003) when determining a sample in which the variability of the larger population adopting a certain practice is unknown, the formula in Eq. 1 was used to derive the sample size:2 An extension officer represented the Ministry of Agriculture from each county. A soil conservation expert represented the private sector, while two male and two female farmers each represented farmers who practice various SLM techniques on their farms from the five sub-counties in each county.Eq. 1where n = sample size, ρ = share of population of interest, Z = confidence interval, and e = margin of error. However, p is presumed to have a value of 0.5 since the population is concealed, and would yield the maximum sample size, Z = 1.96 and e = 0.055. Therefore, the total sample size for the study was determined as shown in Eq. 2:Eq. 2The sample was drawn using a multistage sampling technique, equally distributed in Kakamega and Vihiga counties as they represent a high-potential area facing poor agricultural productivity, due to soil infertility.In the first stage, smaller administrative units (subcounties) were selected from each county. To ensure data variability and greater sample representation, five sub-counties were considered from each county. Specifically, in Vihiga, all five sub-counties (Hamisi, Sabatia, Vihiga, Emuhaya, and Luanda) were selected. In Kakamega, 5 out of the 12 sub-counties were selected, based on the criteria of similar amount of annual rainfall received and existence of two planting seasons per year. This was done to ensure uniformity of the agro-ecological zone from which data were collected. The sub-counties selected were Khwisero, Matungu, Malava, Lurambi, and Mumias East.In the second stage, with the help of agricultural extension officers, smaller administrative units (wards) where farmers employ various soil carbon enhancing practices on their farms were identified. Two wards were then selected from each sub-county due to time constraints. Each of the wards is composed of villages; therefore, three villages were selected from each of the four sub-counties and four villages from each subcounty in both Kakamega and Vihiga. This resulted in a total of 16 villages in each county.In the third stage, ten farmers were selected from each village by randomly picking the first farmer and snowballing to obtain the remaining nine farmers. The targeted sample size as generated from Eq. 2 was 320 farmers, but a total of 334 farmers were interviewed to allow for any data challenges that could arise during the final data analysis. The interviews were conducted by five enumerators 3 especially trained for three days for familiarity with the questions in the data collection tool. The enumerators collected data on the socioeconomic attributes of the households: age, gender, education, farm income, household composition, farm characteristics, and access to credit, groups, information, and technical training. Data on production and marketing characteristics and soil management practices among the households were also collected. On average, one questionnaire took an hour to complete, and each enumerator completed about five questionnaires in a day.The decision to adopt a certain soil carbon enhancing practice is a discrete choice between adoption and non-adoption. Hence, the dependent variable Y i takes the value of one if a household adopts a certain practice and zero otherwise. Therefore, several modeling approaches (probit and logit models) can be used to estimate Y i . However, these models have a limitation of failing to incorporate simultaneous adoption behavior, which might overlook unobserved variations prompting adoption of multiple decisions (Lin et al., 2005). Thus, other modeling approaches exist (e.g., multinomial probit and logit) that permit the analysis of multicategorical and simultaneous adoption decisions, and these are more applicable (Wooldridge, 2003). However, the multinomial logit and probit models restrict the relationship between regressors and the probabilities of the outcomes, as they assume independence across different outcomes (Dow and Endersby, 2004). Even in situations in which the outcomes are correlated, these models produce significant contrasting estimates relative to the true estimates, a shortfall that the multivariate probit (MVP) model is flexible enough to overcome (Young et al., 2009). This makes the MVP model a superior model compared with the multinomial logit and probit; hence, its application in the data analysis in this study.The adoption decision operates under the assumption of the random utility framework whereby the utility (U ij ) a farmer derives from adopting a certain practice is greater than that of not adopting (U ik ), that is, U ij > U ik . The disparity between the utilities is thereforewhere U ij = utility gained by a farmer i who implements a given soil carbon enhancing practice j, β = coefficients to be estimated, X ij = independent variables determining the adoption decision, and μ = the random term.Supposing that dependent variable Y i = ( y i ,…,y i ),(i=1,…,N) is the decision to adopt where Y i takes the value of one if adopted and zero otherwise, the probability that a household will adopt a certain soil carbon practice conditional on X ij could then be defined as a latent variable where U ij -U ik > 0, and can therefore be demonstrated as a function of a set of independent variables, X ij (Ali and Abdulai, 2010), as shown in Eq. 3:Eq. 3Eq. 4where j = choice of a soil carbon enhancing practice and i = an individual household. The MVP model can therefore be specified as shown in Eq. 5 to Eq. 7 (Young et al., 2009):where = a given soil carbon enhancing practice, with the superscript zero depicting non-adoption and one depicting adoption; x is a set of independent variables that are uniform for all practices (the deterministic component) and are perceived to influence the adoption of soil carbon enhancing practices; β = the parameters to be estimated; and ε = the random term (stochastic component), consisting of unobservable factors explaining the marginal likelihood of choosing a given practice.The independent variables for the MVP model (Table 1) include variables considered in the adoption decision behavior of SLMP by farmers in Western Kenya. In this study, socioeconomic characteristics (gender, age, education, household size, livestock ownership, and income), biophysical characteristics (slope and soil type), farm-level characteristics (farm size, output, and land tenure), and institutional characteristics (access to information, extension services, credit, and group membership) are hypothesized to affect the adoption decision regarding soil carbon enhancing practices by smallholder farmers (Kassie et al., 2015;Marenya and Barrett, 2007;Ndiritu et al., 2014). According to the existing literature, the variables have varied effects on adoption; hence, in this study, the direction of effect of the hypothesized variables is subject to the model estimates.Eq. 5for Eq. 6 A dummy variable whereby a household head has been a member in a group for the last 12 months (1 = group member, 0 = otherwise) + Access to credit A dummy variable whereby a household head has had access to credit to engage in farming activities for the last 12 months (1 = credit access, 0 = otherwise) +/- Adoption of SLMP may be variedly affected by gender of the household head, due to the perception of the practices in question and accessibility of resources compared to female counterparts. While García de Jalón et al. ( 2015) and Mwangi et al. (2015) found a negative impact on the adoption of cover crops, Marenya and Barrett (2007) found a positive impact on the adoption of fertilizer and manure. Older farmers are less likely to adopt new agricultural technologies such as improved crop varieties as they lack incentives to invest in farming activities for the coming years (Simtowe and Muange, 2013). Education positively influences the adoption of soil fertility management practices such as the use of fertilizer, as it gives farmers understanding of and insights into the importance of the practices on their farms (García de Jalón et al., 2015;Kamau et al., 2014).Similarly, the size of a household positively impacts the adoption of practices that require a lot of labor in cases in which labor is costly for the household (Kassie et al., 2015;Ndiritu et al., 2014). However, the effect can be negative when little or no labor is required (Freeman and Omiti, 2003).Farm income varies in its influence on the adoption of soil fertility practices. For instance, households with higher incomes have an incentive to adopt some practices as they have the capability of acquiring inputs (Kamau et al., 2014;Mwirigi et al., 2014). A contrasting finding is highlighted by a negative impact of income on the adoption of manure probably because farmers channel their resources for other prioritized activities (Waithaka et al., 2007). According to Wairore et al. (2016), livestock ownership significantly impacted the adoption of agricultural technologies since livestock products generate income that could increase capital for households. Consequently, the number of years a household has been involved in farming activities equips the household with the experience needed to implement various soil management practices (Freeman and Omiti, 2003;Nyaga et al., 2015), which concurs with the observation that farmers who have used fertilizer for a long duration were likely to continue with adoption since they have acquired the know-how and technical skills to use it.Farm size has been found to hinder or encourage the adoption of agricultural technologies. Since households with larger farms are associated with wealth, they are more likely to adopt technologies that improve production and thus increase income (Kebebe et al., 2017;Pisanelli et al., 2008). However, in some observations (Thuo et al., 2014), farm size had a negative influence on adoption since farmers opted to allocate resources to off-farm activities.In most scenarios, farms are partitioned into plots, which independently influence adoption regardless of the farm size. Larger plots had a higher probability of adopting inorganic fertilizer, intercropping, and improved maize varieties (Ndiritu et al., 2014;Ogada et al., 2014).Also, tenure security is an incentive to the adoption of SLMP. For instance, tenure security positively influenced investment in long-term land improvement practices such as agroforestry and terracing because of individual rights (Nyaga et al., 2015;Wainaina et al., 2016). Farmers aim to maximize output so as to enhance income; hence, the expectation of increased income encourages the adoption of practices such as fertilizer and improved seed varieties (Ogada et al., 2014). Various SLMP require labor for implementation and maintenance; hence, labor is a crucial factor. The availability of family labor increased the likelihood of adopting inorganic fertilizer and manure as well as other soil conservation practices, but manure use declined with the availability of hired labor (Kamau et al., 2014;Waithaka et al., 2007).As a proxy for market access, distance to accessible roads has a significant impact on the adoption of agricultural technologies. Longer distances inhibit market access and hence discourage the adoption of technologies such as the use of fertilizer and encourage the adoption of alternatives such as the use of manure (Kassie et al., 2015;Ogada et al., 2014). Positive outcomes have been observed where good infrastructure exists (Recha et al., 2015). Membership in groups enhances the adoption of technologies such as fertilizer as membership improves access to information and social capital benefits (Kassie et al., 2015). Extension agents are the most common information diffusers in the rural setup context. Access to extension services has been found to positively influence the adoption of SLMP such as terracing, use of fertilizer, intercropping, and conservation agriculture ( Jaleta et al., 2013;Ndiritu et al., 2014). The availability of credit allows farmers to engage in costly adoptions since it enables them to acquire the inputs necessary for the implementation of SLMP such as minimum tillage, agroforestry, crop rotation, and the use of improved seed varieties (Ndiritu et al., 2014;Recha et al., 2015).Biophysical characteristics also influence the type of soil fertility management practice adopted. For example, well-drained soils facilitate the adoption of fertilizer (Ogada et al., 2014). Similarly, soils with poor water retention capacity are susceptible to runoff and low organic matter and hence declining fertility, thus encouraging the adoption of fertilizer and ridges (Okeyo et al., 2014). Farms on steep slopes encourage the adoption of terracing and cover crops as anti-erosion and fertility measures (Wainaina et al., 2016).In evaluating the impact of programs such as the adoption of a technology on the target group, various methods have been used, for example, experimental (randomized) and non-experimental methods. Experimental evaluations assume that there is no difference between the treatment group (adopters of a technology) and control group (non-adopters of a technology), only that the treatment group has access to the program/intervention. Non-experimental methods generate comparison groups similar to treatment groups using observed characteristics (Baker, 2000). Although experimental methods have the capability of addressing missing data and selection bias, they are limited to experimental studies and thus are quite costly (Khandker et al., 2010).Non-experimental techniques have therefore been widely applied, with the most common in empirical research being the Heckman two-step method. This technique is capable of controlling for the variations in observed and unobserved attributes between treatment and control groups. However, the estimators are based on the assumption that the unobserved variables are normally distributed, thereby questioning the robustness of the results (Kiiza et al., 2013). Because of this setback, other non-experimental techniques have gained prominence in impact evaluation, with the most widely used being propensity score matching (PSM). This method matches control groups with treatment groups based on a set of observed characteristics by assigning them propensity scores.The score is therefore the estimated probability of participating in an intervention whose characteristics are observable (Ali and Abdulai, 2010). Moreover, PSM has been extensively employed by empirical studies on impact assessment because of its non-random selection of adopters and non-adopters, which may otherwise result in biased estimates (Asfaw, 2010), thus its application in this study.This study posited that households that adopt soil carbon enhancing practices may increase output; thus, the surplus can be marketed for cash, which may translate into increased household income. Therefore, to evaluate the impact of the adoption of a specific soil carbon enhancing practice on output, a dummy variable is included, which is equal to one for adopters and zero otherwise, as specified in Eq. 8:where X i = outcome of a target variable for the i th household; D i = dummy variable, whereby D (i =1) stands for adoption and D i =0 for non-adoption; X i = socioeconomic, farm-level, institutional, and biophysical characteristics; and μ i = the stochastic term reflecting unobserved variables that affect Y i .In the context of this study, PSM is based on the probability of adopting a soil carbon enhancing practice, comparing outcomes between adopters and non-adopters with matching propensity scores. The propensity score is computed as shown in Eq. 9:Eq. 8Eq. 9where adoption (1) or non-adoption (0) is represented by D=(1 or 0) and X = socioeconomic, farm-level, institutional, and biophysical characteristics. The distribution of X, given the propensity score P(X), is comparable between adopters and non-adopters.However, in our estimation, the relationship between the adoption of soil carbon enhancing practices and the outcome (output) could be correlated. There is therefore a likelihood of selection bias given that the assignment of treatment is not random, and that the group of adopters is coherently different. PSM corrects this by providing unbiased estimates of treatment; thus, it is used as a correction model to reduce self-selection bias (Rosenbaum and Rubin, 1983). Consequently, all observable characteristics have to be similar between adopters and non-adopters. The average treatment effect on treatment (ATT), the expected impact of adopting a given soil carbon enhancing practice, is the difference between the actual output and the output if no adoption occurred. This can be specified as Eq. 10:where Y 1i = output when the i th farmer adopts a certain soil carbon enhancing practice, Y 01 = output of the i th farmer when he/she does not adopt, and P i = adoption (1 = adopt and 0 = otherwise).Photo: Georgina Smith/CIATA summary of the statistics of some of the variables, disaggregated by the two counties (i.e., Kakamega and Vihiga) is presented in Table 2. Results of the t-test revealed insignificant differences between the means of most variables, implying a similarity in household characteristics between the two counties. A majority of the farmers are older, with a mean of about 50 years of age, and have more than two decades of farming experience. On average, the households are composed of six members, with an estimated human dependency ratio 4 of less than 1. More than two-thirds of farming is male dominated, but the education levels are low.Almost a half and a quarter of the farmers have attained primary and secondary education, respectively (Table 2).More than 50% of the farmers are categorized 5 as poor based on accumulated wealth. Nevertheless, farmers in Kakamega receive almost twice the annual farm income as farmers in Vihiga. However, the income from livestock surpasses that from crops in both counties, probably because the crops are mostly used for home consumption and sales are based on surplus production.  The human dependency ratio was calculated by the sum of the percentage of people in the household who are below 14 years and the percentage of people who are above 64 years divided by the percentage of people between 15 and 64 years, commonly referred to as the working population. A dependency ratio of less than 1 implies that burdens are well distributed at the household level (KNBS, 2018).The wealth category was measured by the probability of a household being poor, whereby households that were assigned a value of 1 were considered poor and 0 otherwise. A totality of wealth scores derived from ownership of assets such as television sets, radio sets, housing structures, toilet structures, and employment status was used in the computation. A total score of less than 35 was assigned a value of 1 and scores greater than 35 were assigned a value of 0 (Schreiner et al., 2009). The value in parentheses is the standard deviation. The symbols *, **, and *** signify that the means were significantly different at P <0.1, 0.05, and 0.01, respectively; however, the means with the same superscript were not significant.The farm sizes indicate that small-scale farming is dominant in the area, whereby Kakamega and Vihiga have an average of 1.7 and 2.6 acres, respectively. The farms have further been subdivided into plots averaging almost an acre, where they practice farming, hence implementing most of the soil fertility 6 practices. On average, they own one to three plots in which almost 70% of the farmers practice farming (both crops and livestock). In most cases, the soils are loamy (more than 80%), but a few farms have clay and sandy soils. Most of the farmers have from two to three total livestock units 7 (TLU) and grow two to three crop varieties. However, combinations of two dominant crops are grown in the area (maize 38% and beans 31%), justifying the dominance of intercropping as a soil fertility management practice. In addition, inorganic fertilizer, terracing, and agroforestry are common soil fertility practices in the area (Table 2). The main source of labor for farm activities is a combination of both family and hired labor (more than 60%) and family labor only (more than 30%), although in a few cases only hired labor is employed.The motorable roads are more accessible to the farmers than tarmac roads, as depicted by the time taken (walking distance) to access these roads. However, the time taken to access local markets is less than that to access livestock and urban markets. More than half of the farmers belong to groups and social networks. However, access to credit is poor, whereby only 38% and 35% in Kakamega and Vihiga have access to credit facilities, respectively. Consequently, almost two-thirds of the farmers have access to extension services, signifying that knowledge on soil fertility practices might be well disseminated within the study area.Table 3 represents estimates of the variables used for the MVP model. The variables fit the model well with the Wald test = 817.15 and Prob > chi-square = 0.000, implying that the joint regression coefficients are significant in explaining the adoption of soil fertility practices. Results show that male-headed households are more likely to adopt agroforestry but are less likely to adopt intercropping and the application of inorganic fertilizer as a soil fertility enhancement practice. Female farmers are more likely to take up some practices than male farmers as in most cases they are responsible for much of the agricultural work, and thus have information on farming practices (García de Jalón et al., 2015). Moreover, women are influenced by perceptions on ease of use while men are influenced by the usefulness of a certain agricultural technology (Mwangi et al., 2015). Older farmers have a lower likelihood of using inorganic fertilizer. This is because older farmers are equated to have lost energy, being risk averse, and having short-term plans, which are key attributes in determining the choice of agricultural technologies (Ndiritu et al., 2014). Education had a positive and significant association with the adoption of terracing and use of inorganic fertilizer. This could be because education gives a better understanding of the usefulness of the practices on the farms for both soil and crop management (Kamau et al., 2014;Wainaina et al., 2016;Waithaka et al., 2007). The probability of being a poor farmer reduces the likelihood of employing intercropping as a soil fertility enhancement practice. The reason could be that, since intercropping involves at least two crops, several inputs are required, which poor farmers might lack resources to acquire. Households with a higher human dependency ratio and whose main occupation was farming were less likely to adopt intercropping. This could suggest that the households are involved in other farming activities that accrue more income other than intercropping so as to cater to the needs of the dependents.TLU was computed by adding up the total of shoats, cattle, and poultry whereby one mature sheep or goat = 0.2 TLU, one mature chicken = 0.04 TLU, and one mature cow = 1 TLU (Njuki et al., 2011). The higher the number of years a household has on farming, the more likelihood of using inorganic fertilizer. This could be because the more years of experience farmers have, the more aware they are of the benefits of using soil fertility practices (Nyaga et al., 2015;Wairore et al., 2016). Consequently, the higher the number of crop varieties grown by a farmer, the more likely they are to practice intercropping and apply inorganic fertilizer. This finding is similar to that of Kamau et al. (2014), who found that the number of crops grown had a positive association with soil fertility practices. However, an increase in the number of livestock owned decreases the likelihood of practicing agroforestry but increases the likelihood of using fertilizer. According to Kassie et al. (2015), the probability of fertilizer use is likely to increase when it is complemented with other soil management practices such as the use of livestock manure.Land tenure had a negative and significant effect on adoption, whereby land ownership without a title deed (security) and rented land reduced the likelihood of adopting agroforestry and the use of organic fertilizer, respectively. This resonates with Nyaga et al. (2015), who observed that secure land tenure gives farmers individualized rights on their farms, allowing them to make long-term investments such as growing trees.Similarly, insecurity of tenure inhibits the use of land improvement initiatives such as the use of fertilizer (Waswa et al., 2002). Households that have larger farm sizes are more likely to apply inorganic fertilizer but the likelihood of adoption decreases with the size of the plots. A similar observation (Mugwe et al., 2009;Mwirigi et al., 2014;Waithaka et al., 2007) of increased fertilizer use with increasing farm size suggests the need for farmers to improve fertility and thus improve yield. However, a decline in fertilizer use with plot size could mean that not all the plots are related to farming activities.Plots that were managed by the spouse (female managed) relative to those managed by the household head (male managed) alone were more likely to adopt intercropping and the use of fertilizer. This could suggest that females have access to resources and the knowledge required to implement the practices. Also, plots that were jointly managed compared with those managed by the household head only were likely to practice intercropping. This finding is consistent with Ndiritu et al. (2014), who found that intercropping is a common practice among jointly managed plots relative to male-managed plots. Households that employed a combination of family and hired labor were more likely to adopt agroforestry, intercropping, and the use of fertilizer, but employing hired labor only reduced the likelihood of using fertilizer. This could mean that the practices are labor intensive, hence the combination of labor sources.Households that had access to motorable roads were more likely to adopt intercropping, an implication that it is easier to acquire the inputs required to implement the practice. However, access to tarmac roads reduced the likelihood of using inorganic fertilizer since the farmers have to cover longer distances (Table 2). Access to local markets and urban markets encouraged adoption of the use of inorganic fertilizer, while practicing agroforestry was positively and significantly influenced by access to urban markets. According to Kassie et al. (2015) and Murage et al. (2015), market access is an incentive for farmers to adopt new technologies. Access to extension services had a negative and significant impact on the adoption of terracing. This finding contradicts Jaleta et al. (2013), Ndiritu et al. (2014), andWainaina et al. (2016), who found a significant and positive impact on the adoption of soil conservation practices. These imply that extension agents might be lacking the skills and knowhow for implementing some practices or have more inclination toward production practices.Farms on slightly moderate slopes were likely to practice terracing and the use of fertilizer. However, where the slopes were very steep, farmers were more likely to practice terracing but less likely to practice intercropping. These findings concur with Wainaina et al. (2016) that farms on steep slopes require physical structures to prevent soil movement/erosion in order to contain nutrients. Both intercropping and the use of fertilizer were mostly practiced on farms with loamy and sandy soils. Intense cropping on soil causes degradation and hence the need to apply fertilizer. This observation is similar to that of Ogada et al. (2014).In assessing the impact of soil carbon enhancing practices on output, PSM was used. According to Baker (2000), a discrete choice model is the first step in estimating the impact of an outcome while using propensity scores. This is, however, generated after finding a suitable matching 8 estimator (Table 4), which tries to find non-adopting farmers who have a propensity score that is very close to that of adopting farmers (Caliendo and Kopeinig, 2008). Matching performance for different matching estimators Kernel-based matching (KBM) was used since it's the matching estimator that best fit the selection criteria for the largest matching sample, lowest pseudo R2, and lowest mean bias (Mulatu et al., 2017).Table 5 represents the probit 9 model estimates for the variables that influence the adoption of intercropping 10 . The likelihood ratio test indicates the goodness of fit of the model with a P value of 0.002. Results show that household size and availability of labor positively and significantly influenced the adoption of intercropping. This could imply that household members provide labor that encourages adoption.  Both the probit and logit model can be used since they yield similar results; thus, either of the two can be applied in econometric analysis. However, this study used a probit model since it can be generalized to account for heteroscedasticity (Albright, 2015).Of the four dominant practices (intercropping, agroforestry, terracing, and use of inorganic fertilizer), only intercropping best fit the criteria for an insignificant chi-square value after matching variables, making the variables comparable between adopters and non-adopters. However, the variables gender and occupation of the household head and farm size had a negative and significance influence on the adoption of intercropping. This could be explained by the fact that male farmers adopt practices that they deem important. Also, the effect of farm size could be because the households are involved in other farming activities to supplement income. These results are a clear indication that farmers who have adopted intercropping vary significantly from non-adopters.  The propensity scores were calculated for 252 farmers that had adopted intercropping and 82 farmers who were non-adopters (Table 6). The predicted propensity score for adopters ranges from 0.325 to 1, with a mean of 0.781, while that for non-adopters ranges from 0.046 to 0.901, with a mean of 0.674. Therefore, the common support region would lie between 0.325 and 0.901.A further analysis of the propensity scores is exhibited by the density distribution of the scores (Figure 1). The bottom half shows the propensity score distribution of farmers who are non-adopters (control) while the upper half represents adopters (treated). Although some farmers in the treated group are off support, the propensity score distribution graph suggests that there is a high chance of attaining a large number of matched samples with good matches. This is an indication that several farmers who practice intercropping found a suitable match with those farmers who don't.It is important to note that matching should have the capability of reducing the biases that comes with observable farmer characteristics. Table 7 shows the results of the covariate-balancing test, showing the differences in t-test means and percentage bias before and after matching. The results reveal that the matched sample means for the variables are similar for adopters and non-adopters after matching, which was not the case before matching.In addition, the variables that were statistically significant before matching (household size, availability of labor, gender and occupation of the household head, and farm size) are no longer significant after matching (as indicated by the (P > t) column). This suggests that the variables have been balanced, making them comparable and hence reducing selection bias. This is further ascertained by the results in Impact of intercropping on output Consequently, the P > chi 2 is insignificant after matching, supporting that the variables have been balanced between adopters and non-adopters. Having proven that the matching procedure has successfully balanced the variables between the two groups of farmers, a similarity is found in observable characteristics. Thus, the results were used to assess the impact of adopting Balancing covariate indicators intercropping on farm output, which was done by computing the ATT.The impact of intercropping on output is summarized in Table 9. The results indicate that the adoption of intercropping has a positive and significant impact (at 5% significance level) on maize output, but an insignificant impact on bean output.This could imply that beans are intercropped with maize as a complementary crop with the sole purpose of enhancing soil fertility. The finding is supported by Manda et al. (2016), who found that maize-legume production is among the sustainable land intensification practices that fix nitrogen in soils, thus substantially increasing maize production. This is because where monocropping (maize is grown alone) is practiced weeds are common, resulting in a decline in output. The results further indicate that intercropping increases maize output by an average of 240 kg (approximately three bags); therefore, it can be concluded that adoption of intercropping increases maize output by approximately 27%. This finding is consistent with Ngwira et al. (2012), who observed that intercropping is a cost-effective practice as it improves maize yield and at the same time ensures attractive economic returns. These findings suggest that encouraging farmers to adopt intercropping can help in improving maize output and thus increasing income.The results of the treatment effect (adoption of intercropping) assume that all the relevant observable variables have been included in the treatment assigned. Thus, it is important to carry out a sensitivity test to verify whether the estimated results from the PSM are prone to other unobserved variables; otherwise, the positive impact of intercropping on maize output would be questionable. A sensitivity analysis was carried out using the Rosenbaum bounds (rbounds) test (Rosenbaum and Rubin, 2006) to check for hidden bias. Since the impact on the outcome (output) was positive, the level of gamma reported was for the positive effect (sig+), at the point where the 10% level of significance was exceeded.The values of gamma varied between 1.00 and 1.60, suggesting that any unobserved variable would have to increase the odds ratio by about 60% before it would bias the estimated impact. Only then would the significance of the impact on the value of output be questionable.Studies that have reported similar gamma values for the sensitivity analysis include Ogutu et al. (2014) and Miyinzi et al. (2019), concluding that unobserved variables would negligibly alter the conclusion of a positive impact of adoption of intercropping on maize output.Soil infertility has inhibited smallholder farming capacity in sub-Saharan Africa, which has resulted in decreased farm yield and hence decreased household income. Preceding studies have revealed that SLMP -more so those that have the capability of enhancing soil carbon -are critical in enhancing fertility. However, the existing literature has delved into analyzing the determinants of the adoption of diverse SLMP without evaluating the impact they have on farming households' livelihood. This study therefore establishes the factors that influence the adoption of soil carbon practices in Kenya and their impact on output. The multivariate probit model and the propensity score matching method were used on survey data collected from 334 households in Western Kenya. Four dominant SMLP (agroforestry, intercropping, terracing, and inorganic fertilizer) that enhance soil carbon are dominant in the area. The findings reveal that adoption is determined by socioeconomic, farm-level, institutional, and biophysical factors that vary for each individual practice. Altogether, education level, availability of labor, and slope significantly increase the likelihood of adopting all four dominant practices. On the other hand, land tenure and gender have a negative and significant influence on the adoption of these dominant practices. These findings suggest that interventions aimed at increasing adoption should be aimed specifically at an individual practice conditional on the determinant factors.An evaluation of the impact of adoption on output reveals that, of the four main practices, adoption of intercropping solely has a positive and significant impact on maize output. Comparatively, farmers who practice intercropping were found to have an increase of approximately 27% in maize output as opposed to those who don't. Further, unobserved variables would not transform much the results of the evaluated effects. The study therefore concludes that adoption of intercropping significantly increases maize output. The implication is that intercropping is an effective practice in boosting maize output, which constitutes a major component of Kenya's grain basket and can help resource-constrained rural farmers increase their farm income. Thus, policies that facilitate adoption of intercropping among smallholder farmers should be pursued. These include strategies such as being able to obtain affordable inputs required for the practiceimproved seed varieties and inorganic fertilizer -since the results underline that being a poor farmer reduces the likelihood of adoption."}

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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"5dd580ad26c2c6ea6dd9e0ed461e4221","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/e7ead8b1-b913-4fed-99ba-2d4172c2433e/retrieve","id":"-355212245"},"keywords":["Genetic linkage map","pear","QTL","RADseq","SNP","SSR"],"sieverID":"3ef69156-3b3b-4528-8d31-3e820c1abec8","content":"Pear (Pyrus spp) is an important fruit crop, grown in all temperate regions of the world, with global production ranked after grape and apples among deciduous tree crops. A high-density linkage map is a valuable tool for fine mapping quantitative trait loci (QTL) and map-based gene cloning. In this study, we firstly constructed a high-density linkage map of pear using SNPs integrated with SSRs, developed by the rapid and robust technology of restriction-associated DNA sequencing (RADseq). The linkage map consists of 3143 SNP markers and 98 SSRs, 3241 markers in total, spanning 2243.4 cM, with an average marker distance of 0.70 cM. Anchoring SSRs were able to anchor seventeen linkage groups to their corresponding chromosomes. Based on this high-density integrated pear linkage map and two years of fruit phenotyping, a total of 32 potential QTLs for 11 traits, including length of pedicel (LFP), single fruit weight (SFW), soluble solid content (SSC), transverse diameter (TD), vertical diameter (VD), calyx status (CS), flesh colour (FC), juice content (JC), number of seeds (NS), skin colour (SC), and skin smooth (SS), were identified and positioned on the genetic map. Among them, some important fruit-related traits have for the first time been identified, such as calyx status, length of pedicel, and flesh colour, and reliable localization of QTLs were verified repeatable. This high-density linkage map of pear is a worthy reference for mapping important fruit traits, QTL identification, and comparison and combination of different genetic maps.Pear (Pyrus spp.) is one of the most important and popular fruits in Europe, East Asia, and North America, with a cultivation history of up to 3000 years (Lombard and Westwood, 1987). The production of pear in the world was 23.9 million tones and the harvested area was 1.6 million hectares, ranking it as the second most important fruit tree in Maloideae after apple (http://faostat.fao.org). However, as pear is perennial with a long juvenile period, it is not easy for growers and breeders to directly determine genes controlling target traits. Thus, revealing the location of traitcontrol genes on linkage groups and obtaining applicable markers for marker-assisted selection by the construction of genetic linkage maps and agronomic trait mapping is of significant value.A genetic linkage map is the arrangement of genetic markers on the chromosome as inferred by segregation data of genetic material in a population resulting from a specific cross (Collard et al., 2005). It has been widely applied to many fruit trees for molecular genetics and breeding, especially to map QTLs for fruit quality traits and disease-resistance genes (Longhi et al., 2014). For example, recently, fruit quality QTLs for colour, fruit form, and soluble solid content in apricot were detected based on linkage mapping (Socquet-Juglard et al., 2013). In apple, genetic and physical characterization was investigated to fine map the columnar locus (Baldi et al., 2013). Several fruit quality traits, including fruit circumference, diameter at midpoint, length, weight, total soluble solids, and total titratable acids, were newly identified in apple (Potts et al., 2014). In the past dozen years, definite progress had been made in the development of genetic markers and construction of linkage maps in pear. The first pear map was of the Japanese pear cultivars 'Kinchaku' and 'Kosui', reported with 120 RAPD markers, and consisting of 18 linkage groups, spanning 768 cM (Iketani et al., 2001). The following published pear linkage maps used either AFLP or SSR markers, with marker number of ranging from 154-447 (Yamamoto et al., 2002c;Dondini et al., 2005;Yamamoto et al., 2007;Terakami et al., 2009). This low marker density, along with the time and labour required, and the high costs of the marker type makes most of them unsuitable for fine mapping of traits of interest and for full use for breeding purposes. Furthermore, most SSRs previously published in pear genetic maps were derived from other species. However, the whole genome sequence of pear (Pyrus bretscheideri Rehd) was recently released (Wu et al., 2013), making it possible to massively develop genetic markers of pear directly (Fan et al., 2013). With the development of next generation sequencing technologies, a set of 1096 SNPs (single nucleotide polymorphism) identified from three European pear cultivars and 7692 apple SNPs in Infinium ® II 8K array were combined together to develop useful markers for genotyping in Pyrus. An SNP-based map was first tried with 857 polymorphic markers (Montanari et al., 2013); however, this is still not dense and saturated enough to be a desirable and fine map for QTL localization.Many kinds of markers have been developed for genetic map construction, including non-PCR based markers, RFLP (restriction fragment length polymorphism), arbitrarily primed PCR based markers, RAPD (random amplified polymorphic DNA), AFLP (amplified fragment length polymorphism), sequence-specific PCR-based markers, SSRs (single sequence repeats), and SNP (single nucleotide polymorphism) (Agarwal et al., 2008). Among these, SSRs are the most widely applied for their conservation, synteny, and superior transferability (Marques et al., 2002;Gasic et al., 2009). However, the limited number of developed markers still makes high-density mapping difficult. Recently, along with the spread of next-generation sequencing (NGS) technology, the approach for understanding the underlying molecular genetic mechanism of fruit trees has promoted the development of SNP markers, such as grape (Wang et al., 2012), citrus (Fujii et al., 2013), andpeach (Martínez-García et al., 2013). The method for obtaining SNP markers includes commercial genotyping assays in peach, customized genotyping array in citrus, and restriction-site-associated DNA sequencing (RADseq) in grape. Compared with others, the RADseq approach, combining basic molecular techniques with NGS (Davey and Blaxter, 2010), is rapid, inexpensive, and speciesindependent, and so we chose it for conducting the current study. Meanwhile, the application of RADseq had been reported for many species besides grape, such as eggplant (Barchi et al., 2011), barley (Chutimanitsakun et al., 2011), and Lolium perenne (Pfender et al., 2011), but not yet for pear. Therefore, construction of new genetic maps utilizing RADseq was needed in pear.In pear, a SNP marker-based pear genetic map was constructed for anchoring scaffolds (Wu et al., 2013). Furthermore, to fully exploit genetic maps for comparative genomics research and QTL fine mapping of important agronomic traits, we constructed a high-density genetic map integrating SNP and SSR markers, and analysed QTLs of fruit quality related traits using these markers.An F1 pear population of 102 individuals from a cross between 'Bayuehong' and 'Dangshansuli' was used for mapping. 'Bayuehong' is a descendant of European pear 'Clapp's Favorite' (Pyrus communis L.) and the Chinese pear 'Zaosuli' (Pyrus bretschneideri Rehd.). 'Dangshansuli' is a native Chinese pear cultivar (Pyrus bretschneideri Rehd.). The population was hybridized in the year 2000, and most individuals first fruited in the year 2005 or 2006. The plants were grown in the Fruit Tree Institute of Zhengzhou in Henan Province, China. Young leaves, specifically the first few leaves of apex during the beginning of the vegetative period of each individual along with the parents were collected for DNA isolation. Collected samples were first sent to the lab in liquid nitrogen and transferred to -80 °C freezer. ~0.5 g of each sample was ground in liquid nitrogen and genomic DNA was isolated using the plant genomics DNA kit (TIANGEN, Beijing, China) following the manufacturer's protocol. The quality of DNA was critical and DNA concentration of each sample was required to be the same for the construction of sequencing libraries (Chutimanitsakun et al., 2011). RNase was applied for the degradation of possible RNA in the isolated DNA samples, and NanoDrop 2000 was used for DNA concentration determination.The construction of RAD libraries was similar to a set of previously published papers for RAD marker development using next-generation sequencing technology (Chutimanitsakun et al., 2011;Pfender et al., 2011). Briefly, seven steps were applied. First, 500 ng purified genomic DNA of each sample was digested by 20 units endonuclease restriction enzyme EcoRI (New England BioLabs, NEB), for 60 min at 37 °C in a 30 µl reaction. The product was heat inactivated for 20 min at 65 °C. Second, the 30 µl digestion products were ligated with 2.0 µl of 100 nM P1 adapter by 1.0 µl T4 DNA ligase (1000 U µl -1 , NEB), along with 1 µl of 10 mM rATP, 1 µl 10X NEB Buffer, 5 µl nucleasefree water and incubated at room temperature for 20 min. The P1 adapter was with the molecular identifier and sticky-end matching the EcoRI cleavage site (top sequence: 5′-GATCTA CACTCTTTCCCT ACACGACGCT CTTCCGATCTxxxxxx-3′, bottom sequence: 5′-phos-AAT Txxxx xxAGAT CGGAAGAGCGTCGTGTAGGGAAAGAGTGTAGATC-3′, 'xxxxxx' means molecular identifier). Third, a batch of samples was pooled together and randomly sheared ultrasonically (Covaris S2 (Covaris Inc.)). The average length of sheared fragments was confined to 500 bp. QIAquick PCR Purification kit was applied for purifying sheared DNA fragments. Fourth, purified DNA was loaded on a 1.25% agarose gel with 100 bp DNA ladder and 350-500 bp DNA bands were cut from the gel and purified with MiniElute Gel Purification Kit (Qiagen). Fifth, the fragment end was repaired with Quick Blunting kit (NEB). A 3′-dA overhang was added using dA-tailing module (NEB). Then P2 adapter (Top: 5′-T GATCGG AAGAGCACAC GTCTGAACTCCAGTC ACCTTGTAAT CAGAACAA-3′, bottom: 5′-CAAGCAG AAGACGGCAT ACGAGATTACAAG GTGACTG GAGTTCAGACGTGTGCT-CTTCCGATC-3′) was ligated to the sticky end with an overhanging A. Sixth, the collected fragments were enriched by PCR amplification (Forward primer: 5′-AATGATA CGGCGACCAC CGAGATCTACA CTCTT TCCCT ACACG ACGCTCTTCCGATCT-3′, reverse primer: 5′-CAAGCAGA AGACGGC ATAC GA-3′) and purified by QIAquick PCR purification kit. Finally, each sample was normalized to 10 nM for sequencing in Illumina HiSeq2000 following the manufacturer's protocol.SNP identification and genotype scoring were performed using Stacks package (Catchen et al., 2013) with customized Perl scripts. Briefly, reads with low quality were discarded, and original reads were identified by their barcodes. Then, reads of each individual were clustered, aligned with each other and scored for SNPs. The marker code was based on the software Joinmap 4.0 and the population type CP (cross pollinators). CP is a cross between two heterozygous diploid parents, with linkage phases originally unknown (Van Ooijen, 2006). There are five segregation types of CP population (lmxll, nnxnp, hkxhk, efxeg, abxcd), but only three segregation types were genotyped here. The marker code 'lmxll' represents markers with first parent heterozygous and second parent homologous, 'nnxnp' represents markers with first parent homologous and second parent heterozygous, and 'hkxhk' represents markers with both parents heterozygous. The putative loci were filtered to remove erroneous data. Valid loci for genetic mapping were filtered by the following criteria. First, the expected segregation ratio for 'lmxll' and 'nnxnp' was 1:1, and including 'hkxhk', it was 1:2:1. Chi-square was tested and the threshold P-value was set to 0.05. Second, the sequencing depth of each locus of each plant was checked, and the lower depth genotype was set as missing, as it can be caused by sequencing or other errors. Third, any locus with more than 10 missing data was filtered, with the view that too much missing data would influence the mapping result.Sequence information of SSR primers were obtained from HiDRAS (http://www.hidras.unimi.it/) and several published papers (Liebhard et al., 2002;Yamamoto et al., 2002aYamamoto et al., , 2002bYamamoto et al., , 2002c;;Sawamura et al., 2004;Fernández-Fernández et al., 2006;Inoue et al., 2007;Celton et al., 2009;Nishitani et al., 2009). The segregation data for SSR markers in the same population were detected and 112 of them were used for constructing an integrated map. Microsatellites were PCR amplified in a PTC-200 Thermo Cycler (BIO-RAD) using the reaction system under the following conditions: the reaction mixture was 20 µl, and contained 2.0 µl of 10X reaction buffer (100mM Tris-HCl, pH 8.3), 50 mM KCl, 1.6 mM MgCl 2 , 0.25 mM of each dNTP, 0.2 µM of each primer, 1.0 U Taq polymerase (TaKaRa), and 25-50 ng of genomic DNA. The PCR reactions were performed with the following conditions: 94 °C for 3 min, then 39 cycles of annealing (55 °C for 50 s), extension (72 °C for 1 min), and final cycle of extension (72 °C for 10 min). The products of PCR amplification were analysed by 8% polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. Band scoring was performed using a standard 100 bp ladder and pBR322 DNA/ MapI as control.The fruit traits at ripening stage were investigated in 2008 and 2009. Ten random fruits were picked from each tree and eleven major traits for fruit were measured. These traits were: length of pedicel (LFP), single fruit weight (SFW), soluble solid content (SSC), transverse diameter (TD), vertical diameter (VD), calyx status (CS), flesh colour (FC), juice content (JC), number of seeds (NS), skin colour (SC), and skin smooth (SS). LFP, TD, VD were measured using vernier calipers. SFW was measured using electronic scales. SSC was measured using a refractometer (Atago, model N-1). CS had three possible statuses, calyx-remain, calyx-remnant, and calyxabscission. FC had five possible statuses, white, milky white, light green, light yellow, and yellow. JC was estimated to six levels from extreme little to masses. NS was observed as two levels, 10 seeds and less than 10 seeds. SC of fruit was observed as either red or green. SS was observed as rough, medial, or smooth. According to the measurement type and trait characterization, all 11 fruit traits were divided into qualitative trait group and quantitative trait group, with CS, FC, JC, SC, NS, and SS considered as qualitative traits and LFP, SFW, SSC, TD, and VD considered as quantitative traits.Map construction and QTL analysis Joinmap 4.0 (Van Ooijen, 2006) was used for linkage map construction. Scored SNP and SSR markers were first mixed together with all kinds of marker types and loaded into Joinmap 4.0. The segregation rate of markers was first tested in Joinmap 4.0 and distorted markers (chi-square threshold of 0.01) were left out from further analysis. Regression mapping as the mapping algorithm, Kosambi as the mapping function, and LOD (logarithm of odds) of 9.0 as the minimum LOD score were used to establish linkage groups. After grouping, linkage group number was named after the corresponding chromosome number of the SSRs in it. MapChart (Voorrips, 2002) was used to make linkage group figures.MapQTL5.0 (Van Ooijen, 2004) was used to conduct QTL analysis. The Kruskal-Wallis (KW) test, a non-parametric method was used to detect QTLs for qualitative data. Markers with a P value<0.01 by KW test were declared as candidate QTLs. Interval Mapping (IM) was used to initially detect QTLs in quantitative data and nearby loci with the highest LOD scores were selected as co-factors. Markers associated at P<0.02 after automatic cofactor selection were then used for multiple QTL model (MQM) computation. The LOD threshold of 2.5 (Khan et al., 2013;Zhang et al., 2013) was used to identify potential QTLs. A significant LOD threshold was calculated by permutation test as 3.5 at the 95% confidence level.A total of 1.18 billion raw single-end reads of 49 bp were obtained, yielding a total length of more than 58.0 Gb. After identifying barcodes in the start of each read and trimming raw data into the same read length of 41 bp, the total number of reads was reduced to 1.12 billion, and valid sequence decreased to 45.8 Gb. The number of reads for each individual affected the capability of SNP calling. The results showed that reads per individual were not equal in the population, with a maximum of 37.1 million, and minimum of 0.4 million (Supplemental Table S1 available at JXB online). Among these, the sequencing depth of parents had more impact than progenies on SNP scoring, as they were the basis for genotyping for each locus. The maternal 'Bayuehong' obtained 24.0 million reads, a rate of 2.1%, and paternal 'Dangshansuli' obtained 15.5 million reads, a rate of 1.4%; both proportions were higher than average (Supplemental Table S1).For calling SNPs, RAD reads of each individual were first aligned with each other and clustered to 93.8 million RAD tags. After disregarding unclustered data (depth<3), the total number of filtered RAD tags remained at 41.5 million. The sequencing depth of each individual indicated the liability of each locus for SNP calling, which varied from a minimum of 4.8X to the maximum of 47.0X, with an average estimated RAD tag depth of 23.9X (Supplemental Table S1). These data were then used for analysing SNPs and cataloguing polymorphism loci. 40 064 putative loci were obtained, consisting of 26 672 lmxll markers (66.6%), 9895 nnxnp markers (24.7%), and 3497 hkxhk markers (8.7%). Finally, 10 861 SNP loci passed the threshold described in the materials and methods.10 861 SNPs and 112 SSRs were loaded into Joinmap 4.0. After grouping, 17 strongly linked groups were selected, with 7732 SNPs and 98 SSRs. Comparison to the pear genome sequence (Wu et al. 2013) showed that 2780 SNPs did not map to the corresponding scaffolds. Then, after excluding 1809 markers with more than 10 missing data, a total of 3143 SNP markers (segregation data were listed in Supplemental Table S3 available at JXB online) and 98 SSRs were anchored, so these 3241 anchored markers were used for final map construction. The information of all remaining markers are organized in Supplemental Table S4 (available at JXB online), which includes marker names, linkage groups, genetic distances, and physical map location in the pear genome. Each LG consisted of at least one SSR, which was used for locating the corresponding chromosome number for each LG and is convenient for map comparison. LG1 and LG7 consisted of the least, with 3 SSRs, and LG10 consisted of the most, with 11 SSRs. The constructed map is shown as Supplemental Figure S1 (available at JXB online) and summary statistics of LGs are shown in Table 1. LG1, consisting of 50 markers spanning 115.0 cM with 2.35 cM per marker, had the fewest markers, and lowest density, indicating a lower rate of heterozygosity in Chr1.LG15, consisting of 373 markers with 0.48 cM per marker, had the most markers and highest density, which might infer a higher rate of heterozygosity in Chr15. Excluding LG1 and LG15, LG density ranged from 0.54 cM per marker (LG11) to 1.27 cM per marker (LG16), the number of markers ranged from 106 (LG4) to 281 (LG5). Genetic length of each LG ranged from 73.1 cM in LG7 to 177.1 cM in LG5. The average number of markers of each LG was 190.6, the average genetic length of each LG was 132.0 cM, and average density was 0.70 cM per marker. Overall, the integrated map consisted of 3241 markers, including 3143 SNPs and 98 SSR markers, and had a total span of 2243.4 cM. The distribution of SNPs and SSRs on LGs is shown on Fig. 1 with different colours. Generally, most SSRs were integrated into LGs, and distributed over different parts of the LG.To investigate the SNP pattern of pear, the distribution of the number of SNPs from each parent on each LG is shown in Fig. 2, and SNP mutation pattern distribution is shown in Fig. 3. Unequal distribution of markers was found on each LG (Fig. 2), with several peaks on mostLGs. The highest peak of all LGs with the most markers was on LG3. LG1, LG4, and LG7 had fewer markers and peaks. Furthermore, we found the origin of SNPs from the two parents was also unbalanced. It was found that more segregating SNP markers were from 'Bayuehong', with few SNPs originating from 'Dangshansuli'. 2651 markers were from 'Bayuehong', 280 were from 'Dangshansuli', and 212 from both, indicating a high rate of heterozygosis of the maternal cultivar. For SNP mutation pattern, we found that the pattern of T (thymine) alternated to C (cytosine) and A (adenine) alternated to G (guanine), or the reverse, of either lmxll marker or nnxnp markers had the largest ratios of pear mutation types, both at least 30% (Fig. 3). Overall, transition, the substitution inside pyridine or purine, was more frequent than transversion, the substitution between pyridine and purine, with the ratio of transition/transversion at 1.56:1 in this study.Eleven fruit yield and quality related traits were selected for QTL analysis. SFW affects fruit production; TD, VD, SC, and SS affect external fruit quality; SSC and JC affect flavour of fruit; CS affects the content of sugar acid and vitamin C (Qi et al., 2013); LFP affects the nutrition and auxin transportation (Drazeta et al., 2004); FC is related to consumer preference (Adami et al., 2013); and NS affects germination and fruit development (Michalak et al., 2013). The eleven measured traits were divided into quantitative and qualitative trait groups. CS, FC, JC, NS, SC, and SS had non-normal data distribution, so we treated them as qualitative traits. QTLs of these traits were detected using the Kruskal-Wallis test with a significance level of 0.01. In total, 18 QTLs were detected in either data of the year 2008 or 2009 (Table 2). Among them, 2 are for CS, 2 for FC, 2 Five traits, LFP, SFW, SSC, TD, and VD, had normally distributed data. Therefore, interval mapping and multiple QTL model with LOD score of 2.5 as potential QTLs were used for QTL detection, and QTLs with LOD score greater than the threshold of 3.5 were considered significant. A total of 14 candidate QTLs were detected in either data of the year 2008 or 2009 (Table 2) and 3 of them were significant QTLs. Among the 14 QTLs, 3 QTLs were detected for LFP, 2 QTLs for SFW, 3 QTLs for SSC, 3 QTLs for TD, and 3 QTLs for VD. Compared with qualitative traits, fewer QTLs for quantitative traits localized repetitively for different years. One pair, VD on LG17, was confirmed in both 2008 and 2009. However, they were not in the same location on the chromosome. QTL of VD on LG17 in 2008 was located at 11.3 cM,   The constructed integrated map was comprised of 98 SSR markers, listed in Supplemental Table S2 (available at JXB online), 63 of which were derived from apple, and 35 from pear. The LG number and map location of each SSR marker was compared with previous pear (Yamamoto et al., 2007;Terakami et al., 2009) and apple (http://www.hidras.unimi.it/) maps, as apple and pear are related species, both in the family of Rosaceae. The five selected genetic maps, ' Barlett', 'La France', and 'Hosui' of pear, and 'Fiesta' and 'Discovery' of apple were compared through commonly used SSR markers. The results showed that the map generated in this study has 45 common SSR markers with the 'Barlett' map, 40 common SSR markers with the 'La France' map, 18 common SSR markers with the 'Hosui' map, 35 common SSR markers with the 'Fiesta' map, and 31 common SSR markers with the 'Discovery' map. For each of the 17 linkage groups of pear maps, there was at least one common marker. However, there were no common markers for LG7 and LG13 in the apple 'Fiesta' map, and for LG5 and LG7 in the apple 'Discovery' map. Overall, 70 of 98 SSR markers used in this study could be located in at least one of the five sets of maps. Most of the 70 common SSR markers have the same order as in the reference map (Supplemental Table S2). However, order and distance disagreement of markers also existed. For example, CH02c02b, CH01d03, and CTG1064355 located at 0 cM, 40.3 cM, and 55.3 cM of LG4 in our map, respectively, while located at 55.3 cM, 19.6 cM, and 55.3 cM, respectively, on LG4 in 'Barlett'. CH02c02a, NH046a, and CH02f06 were located at the same position, 4.0 cM of LG2, in the map of 'La France'; while located at close loci 126.8 cM, 130.0 cM, and 131.6 cM, respectively, on LG2 in our map. Furthermore, there were six SNP markers located in between Ch02c02a and NH046a, and 27 SNP markers located in between NH046a and CH02f06.The construction of RAD libraries reduces the sequencing complexity of the genome by digesting the whole genome to restriction site-associated DNA tags, rather than directly sequencing the whole genome (Davey et al., 2011). It is possible to apply to model or non-model, cultivatable or wild species, with or without reference genomes, and any genome size (Davey and Blaxter, 2010). Nowadays, it has been applied to many species, e.g. barley (Chutimanitsakun et al., 2011), perennial ryegrass (Pfender et al., 2011), and grape (Wang et al., 2012). RADseq, with the capacity of discovering thousands of markers in any organism, is an important technology for ecological population genomics (Davey and Blaxter, 2010). With recent significant advancements, RADseq can also be a tool for rapid high-density genetic map construction and QTL mapping. Besides the current work on pear, previously, it has been applied to grape to construct a highdensity genetic map (Wang et al., 2012), perennial ryegrass to identify QTL for stem rust resistance (Pfender et al., 2011), and barley to construct linkage map and conduct QTL analysis (Chutimanitsakun et al., 2011). Compared with the conventional methods for constructing a genetic map of fruit trees, e.g. SRAP, AFLP, and SSR (Zhang et al., 2013), the RADseq-based SNP discovery technique is a worthy new tool for rapidly constructing high-density genetic maps.The genetic map in this study was the first pear genetic map constructed using over 3000 SNP markers developed from RADseq and integrated with previously published SSRs in different linkage group. It found a highly unbalanced contribution from the two parents (Fig. 2), especially in LG1. This was because of the unbalanced heterozygosity in parent genomes. More SNPs will be developed in a genome with higher ratio of heterozygosity. 'Bayuehong' is a descendant of European pear and Asiatic pear, two major cultivar groups, and features a high ratio of heterozygosity. 'Dangshansuli' is an ancient cultivar with a cultivated history of more than 500 years in China (Wu et al., 2013), and a subsequently lower level of heterozygosity. Compared with microsatellites, SNPs are considered a better tool for carrying out gene mapping experiments for the reason that they can be genotyped on a much larger scale and are more abundant (Slate et al., 2009). Besides, the power to detect QTL is also enhanced once SNPs are integrated into a first-step SSR-based map with putative QTL locations (Slate et al., 2009). As the pear whole genome sequence has been released (Wu et al., 2013), it can be used in combination with the SNP-based map for fine mapping of genes, as the sequence of each marker is available and genes around each marker are easy to obtain. To test the utility of this approach, we did fruit trait QTL analysis firstly based on SNP map and compared SNP map with previous genetic maps of pear.Mapping QTLs in pear is challenging, because pear is a self-incompatible plant with high heterozygosity and a long growth and breeding cycle (Wu et al., 2013). Therefore, it is difficult to generate a population that is good for QTL mapping, such as F2 and RIL, and the number of samples for a crossed population is also smaller than annual crops. With the development of sequencing and its application in marker screening, high-resolution linkage maps have been successfully used for QTL fine mapping (Chapman et al., 2012). Previously, a few studies performed mapping and QTL identification using the same F1 population of 'Dangshansuli' and 'Bayuehong'. Han et al. (Han et al., 2010) conducted a QTL study for fruit traits using SSR markers, detecting 21 QTLs for the four traits (total soluble solids concentration, mass of single fruit, transverse diameter of fruit, and vertical diameter of fruit), explaining 8.3-33.1% of the variance. In 2011, Zhang et al. (2011) identified nine QTLs in the same population using AFLP and SRAP markers for agronomic traits of fruit (total soluble solids concentration, mass of single fruit, transverse diameter of fruit, vertical diameter of fruit, and fruit shape index), explaining 11.4-36.4% of the variance. Another publication (Zhang et al., 2013) presented 19 QTLs identified in the same population, including those for soluble solids content, fruit weight, fruit diameter, fruit shape index, and fruit maturity date, explaining 7.1-22.0% of the variance. The genetic maps these studies constructed were of lower resolution and unsaturated, and possibly unable to ensure the accuracy of identified QTLs. In contrast, markers in the map constructed in this study spanned 2243.4 cM, and had a smaller average marker interval of 0.7 cM, which facilitated localization of QTLs. A total of 32 QTLs were identified for eleven traits, some important pear fruit-related traits have for the first time been identified, such as length of pedicel, calyx status, flesh colour etc, and reliable localization of QTLs were verified repeatable; these corresponding markers are able to be easily located on the whole genome sequence and can be used to screen candidate genes related to traits on those corresponding chromosome regions. Therefore, gene discovery based on this study would be more efficient and rapid. On the other hand, the current study used more observed fruit traits and different QTL analysis methods to detect more putative QTLs and obtain more reliable results based on the higher density genetic map. The KW method was used for qualitative traits with dispersed data and IM for quantitative traits with continuous normal distributed data. The results showed 32 detected QTLs and explained variance of quantitative traits ranging from 14.0-30.0%. Among the QTLs, 12 pairs could be localized on the same LG repetitively in two successive years, but the location of other QTLs changed in different years, a phenomenon also found in previous publications.For example, Kenis et al. (2008) detected 74 different QTLs for the major fruit physiological traits of apple. However, only one-third (26) of the identified QTLs were stable over both harvest years, and of these year-stable QTLs only one was a major QTL. This indicates that fruit traits are complex, often involving major and minor effect genes with interaction among genes and environmental factors. Intriguingly, the SSR marker CH04c06 was located on LG17 in our map, but on linkage group 11 in a study by Han et al. (2010). Thus, we inferred that they were corresponding linkage groups. In addition, we found that TD and SFW were detected on LG17 in our map and LG11 in the map by Han et al., indicating that they might be a common QTL. However, few markers could be verified with previous studies, such as a map using AFLP and SRAP markers (Zhang et al., 2013), owing to deficiency of common markers or anchoring SSR markers for these maps, making it difficult to decipher corresponding linkage groups. The 12 repeatable QTLs that showed stable and significant effects for phenotype of fruit traits are valuable resources for candidate gene exploration in the future, combined with the whole genome sequence of pear (Wu et al., 2013), genes surrounding these QTLs could be listed as candidate genes for further screening and verification, and the corresponding chromosome region could be cloned, and applied to associate analysis for fine gene mapping.The genetic maps constructed in this study contained a higher number of markers than any previous pear genetic map . Yamamoto et al. (2007) constructed integrated reference linkage maps of pear cultivar 'Bartlett' and 'La France'. The map of 'Bartlett' consisted of 447 loci, including 58 SSR markers, spanning 1000 cM, with an average distance of 2.3 cM, and the 'La France' map consisted of 414 loci, including 66 SSR markers, spanning 1156 cM, with an average marker distance of 2.9 cM. Terakami et al. (2009) constructed a genetic linkage map of 'Hosui' consisting of 335 loci, including 105 SSR markers, spanning 1,174 cM, with an average marker distance of 3.5 cM. Apple and pear both belong to the sub-family Maloideae in Rosaceae, sharing the same chromosome number, and many SSR markers have been shown to have good transferability between apple and pear (Pierantoni et al., 2004;Gasic et al., 2009). The comparison of our genetic map with previously constructed pear and apple genetic maps showed that all LGs contained common SSR markers between the different maps, and most markers were comparative, with the same order (Supplemental Table S2), with some exceptions. For example, CH02c02b, CH01d03, and CTG1064355 located at 0 cM, 40.3 cM, and 55.3 cM of LG4 in our map, respectively, but were located at 55.3 cM, 19.6 cM, and 55.3 cM, respectively, on LG4 in 'Bartlett' (Yamamoto et al., 2007). The reason why CTG1064355 and CH02c02b are located differently might be due to genome structure differences between the different pear cultivars, or their homologous SSR loci. Previously, based on the integrated physical and genetic maps of apple, Han et al. (2011) found both genome-wide and segmental duplications present in the apple genome. Khan et al. (2012) revealed inconsistent marker order among a multi-population consensus genetic map, which can probably be attributed to structural variations in the apple genome. In addition, CH02c02a, NH046a, and CH02f06 markers were located in the same position in the 'La France' map, showing a close relationship at the end of LG2. There were six SNP markers between Ch02c02a and NH046a, and 27 SNPs between NH046a and CH02f06, providing additional information about the locus for future research. If there were genes of interest in these regions, the high density of SNP markers would be very useful for gene screening. In brief, all the commonalities and differences between different maps needs further research, either utilizing whole genome-wide sequence or more SSR markers.The study presented here demonstrates that RADseq is a powerful method for genetic marker discovery and genetic map construction for pear. The genetic maps integrated with SNP and SSR markers were high quality and high density, and can be very useful for QTL detection, MAS, map-based cloning, and map comparison."}

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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"fd8c8ccba59c6e53014d68f19dff031a","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://dataverse.harvard.edu/api/access/datafile/:persistentId/?persistentId=doi:10.7910/DVN/90WJ9W/78GCHU","id":"1850759646"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"2edb83fa-3573-438d-a951-00c81654bb64","content":"Ecosystems models are being used in various types of impact assessment studies at different temporal and spatial scales, and their results often implicate policy and management decisions at multiple levels (e.g., from micro-level farm management to macro-level natural resource management). Soil information is often key input to the models, yet it is difficult to obtain extensive, quantitative, and geo-referenced soil property data for the areas (or regions) of interest. Global soil databases exist (e.g., Harmonized World Soil Database (HWSD) by IIASA/FAO/ ISSCAS/ISRIC/JRC, 2009), but they do not provide all the required information for the models at specific site. Whereas, existing global soil profile databases (e.g., WISE by ISRIC, 2002) do not extensively cover large areas in developing world.To overcome the limitation of locationspecific soil profile data for crop modeling applications, we generated a set of generic soil profiles based on three criteria that crop models are most responding to: texture, rooting depth, and organic carbon content. By classifying three levels for each category and setting their boundary conditions (Box 1), 27 soil profiles, HC27, were generated in formats compatible with DSSAT and APSIM. The boundary conditions were defined based on soil profiles recorded in sub-Saharan Africa, thus are subject to further adjustments in other regions where extensive soil profiles are available.There will be multiple ways of utilizing HC27 in crop modeling applications. First, for a given site, users can choose which one best matches to the soils found in the area. It would be difficult to estimate values of all soil properties that crop models require, but selecting one out of 27 by answering three multiple-choice questions would be relatively straightforward to users with some level of agronomic knowledge. Secondly, model can be run with all 27 soil profiles for a given HC27: Generic/Prototypical Soil Profiles For grid-based regional-scale crop modeling applications between 90 and 150 cm Deep:deeper than 150 cm site to create a set of simulation results, then narrow down to the most relevant one later as more site-specific information becomes available. Finally, based on additional information from other databases, a new kind of soil map that locates 27 soils can be generated and used in large-scale applications.For example, Figure 1 is an example soil map indicating which one of 27 soils is predominantly distributed where, and this data layer was generated by 1) overlaying 10-km grids on HWSD v1.1, 2) computing zonal statistics of soils on grids, 3) determine predominant soil in each grid cell, and 4) match the soil with one of 27 soils, based on the predominant soil's texture, organic carbon content of top soil, and available water content classification (as the proxy of rooting depth) from the HWSD.The HC27 does not replace any existing high resolution soil mapping efforts nor duplicate site-specific soil measurements. Instead, this approach tries to address the need for a reasonably representative meso-scale soil profile database to be used in certain types of spatial crop systems modeling applications. For example, recently in 2009, HC27 was used in regional/global scale climate change impact assessment studies by IFPRI. However, due to the nature of \"generic\" characteristics, there will be applications that the use of HC27 may not be desirable where detailed soil property dynamics beyond the three criteria are emphasized.Where to download HC27?The latest version of HC27 can be explored and downloaded at http://droppr.org/data/map/hc27.  "}

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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"35b1481f1ffbc560b5e89d46bb103a35","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/392125ed-f658-4c33-a839-fe1af75eb81e/retrieve","id":"107907199"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"74183b05-6e27-483b-b0e3-fa5902a5dc75","content":"actors in the PPB debate are the sarne o!,!es who were involved in earlier years. What is puzzling to observe, is that it i5 as ifthese earlier, broader-based and more institutionally aware pieces of analysis did not exist. Certainly, with the current emphasis on a \"new\" approach and \"new\" rnanuals, the reader is eneouraged to think that sorne of the issues are new, whíle in faet they are well known in Nepal.The current range of PTD activities by many different actors Not only does Nepal have this rieh historical background of participatory approaches to research in topies far wider than plant breeding, but there is a great deal of PTD now taking place inside and outside of the public-seetor research system, which could inform the debates in plant breeding (Gauchan, Joshi, and Biggs 2000). This includes a partieipatory varietal selection (PVS) prograrn for fodder, involving 3500 farmers in 10 districts in Nepal and farmers asking researchers in NARC for specific varieties of exotic goats to cross with their own local breeds. Many ofthese prograrns do not think that what they are doing is extraordinary, or needs a spedal project, let alone that il should be the subject of much-heated debate to show that what they are doing i8 different from other parts of their R&D activities. 17In addition lo these activities, there is the continuing and very extensive PPB practice of farmers going lo India lo select and being back a whole range of cereal, horticultural, and other varieties. This aClivity includes not only farmers, but also a range of other actors such as agricultural veterinarians and other rural eñtrepreneurs who seek out new pesticides, fertilizers, and olher agricultura! inputs. A serious challenge for Nepali and Indian researchers and policymakers is how to keep up with this two-way flow oftechnology, how lo ¡cam lessons for science, and ifnecessary and feasible, how lo regulate il.We have argued that from our perspective, sorne of the PPB debates in the international and local literature appear rather narrow and are not addressing broader R&D policy issues. 18 From a Nepal perspective, it would also appear that sorne ofthe debates have not taken adequate account ofthe great wealth of pasl knowledge (published and unpublished) on PPBIPTD in Nepal, nor does it appear lo reflect an awareness ofthe large arnount ofPPBlPTD research being conducted by a range of different R&D actors al the present time. In the light of lhis, we suggest a number of ways forward in Ihe Nepal contexl. These are ways forward that place emphasis on the institutional issues of how the nalional system can inlegrate and use the R&D capacily ofmany diverse actors.The agricultural and natural resource R&D system in Nepal i8 rapidly changing. There are new research and extension providers emerging and old aclors are changing their roles. The sources and conditions of research funding are also changing, wilh an ernphasis more on transparency and Ihe 17. lt is Interesting to note that there are important areas ofbreeding (for example, in the fisheries. sector) whcre there is very linle systematk research, the term breeding being used to denote !he muJtiplication of fingerlings. lt 15 possible that sorne of the knowJedge and experience of !hose engaged in the PPB/CPB debates couJd be better redirected towards strengthentng fisheries breeding. 18. A very notable exception to this is the PPB cocle ofpractice guideIines being developed by fue CGIAR Systemwide PartlcipatoryResearch and Gender Analysis Program (Weltzien/Smith, Meitzner, and Sperling 20(0). There are many ethlcal and legal issues concem:ing access to information, patents; etc\" that have been neglected ín the past and need serious policy analysis.efficíency of the overall R&D system. In the light of these changes, it would appear that one of the new types of institutions needed in the PPB area are national forums where issues of importance to national policy can be díscussed. 19 Participants need to inelude knowledgeable researchers, not only from the public sector but a1so now from the privatelNGO and university sectors. Research funders will also need to be involved, as funders increasingly need to be recognized as one of the stakeholders in a particular research endeavor. In the particular area of plant breeding, seed-release legislation, and regulatory systems, the national forum will have to ¡nelude the major NGOs workíng in this area and in the growing private sector. The knowledge and capacity ofthese sectors has lO be used for policy purposes. Al the regionallevel and for specific technologies (e.g., a regional research station or a rice commodity-ímprovemenl program), forums will also have 10 be estab-Iished. The legitimate concerns of different actors can then be discussed. The strengthening of such forums would also help to reduce the chane es that the competitíon for funds (and the demands of the project cyele) becomes the major determinant for dírectíng research activitíes.A second and related new direclion concerns Ihe formation of new ínstitutional partnerships, allianees, andcoalitíons. In thepast such projects as the in sítu agrobíodíversity project involvíng a forma! agreement between NARC, Local Initíatíves for Biodiversity Research and Development (LI-BIRD, a large local research-based NGO), and IPGRI were an exception. 20 However, il is now being recognized that such partnerships are the best way forward in using scarce natíonal and international research resources. At t;he nationallevel, it is cIcar that public-sector R&D agencies are changing policies to encourage their staffto work collaboratívely with the NGO/private/university sectors and also to enhance linkages among public-sector institutions. 21 The challenge in this is how to develop and implement genuine partnersrups. At one level, this wíll involve learning new management skills, but at another level, it will a1so involve a respect for the knowledge, skills, and roles of a wide range of multiple actors in the R&D system. Many of the instítutional innovations needed for going forward are already being developed \"informally\" and sometimes formally in multiple locatíons in Nepal. Sorne ofthese innovations might be useful to other countries and international agencies.For years researchers in Nepal (whether with or without formal training in science) have been developing technology relevant for different niches in the country. In recent years the achievements of formal science have becn recorded in various ways. However, the informal activitíes of researchminded farmers have continued to playa major role in R&D processes (as evident in the spread of improved varieties selected by farmers), but these informal activítíes have not had the support of the formal research process fur technology generation and promotíon. By the same token, there are ínnovative researchers in the formal system who are developing new plant-breeding procedures and new institutional structures for the practíce of science. Sorne of these innovations involve new types of partnerships with many local and international actors. This type of innovatíve practíce is 19. See RoHng (1990) for the importance of platforms. forums. and other similar institutional mechanísms for discourse in agricultural R&D, For similar discussions on development nooes and networks in ruraJ..aevelopmentprojects, see AJsop and Farrington   (1998).plant breeders and concems with gender analysis. 21. See Gauchan, Joshi. and Biggs(2000). the proceedíngs ofthe 5th N.Honal Outreach Workshop and the reportofthe Committee on Research .1Id Development Línkages prepared for the luly meeting of the NARC Board.not new to science. The practice of science always involves the flow ofinformation between differen! groups ofpeople. However, because science i8 a social process, there are always people and interes! groups who, fOI one Ieason OI another, want to control !he flow of information in differen! ways. Sorne ofthe reasons fOI this have been discussed in this papero One of the bíggest challenges for researchers and research funders al present ís lo frnd ways of strengtheníng the overall R&D systern in Nepal. In this process, internationaI actors can playa role. However, the involvernent ofinternational actors should be questioned if(l) they encourage the creation and use ofunhelpful dichotomies, where a more careful analysis is needed and (2) Nepal is seen as a location for experiments or international research prograrns that are owned in any meaningful sense by others-and Nepal is seen as being at the end of a \"top-down\" R&D systern."}

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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"d4ce04d75cd71174b22add71a8c576e1","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://repository.cimmyt.org/server/api/core/bitstreams/4d65bb03-b157-4f84-9cc7-447316e39385/content","id":"833319704"},"keywords":["Wheat","Genotyping-by-sequencing (GBS)","SNP","Genetic diversity","Population structure","Analysis of molecular variance (AMOVA)"],"sieverID":"c93c7ecd-a082-4003-8662-d89448d0db2a","content":"Genetic diversity and population structure information are crucial for enhancing traits of interest and the development of superlative varieties for commercialization. The present study elucidated the population structure and genetic diversity of 141 advanced wheat breeding lines using single nucleotide polymorphism markers. A total of 14,563 high-quality identified genotyping-by-sequencing (GBS) markers were distributed covering 13.9 GB wheat genome, with a minimum of 1,026 SNPs on the homoeologous group four and a maximum of 2,838 SNPs on group seven. The average minor allele frequency was found 0.233, although the average polymorphism information content (PIC) and heterozygosity were 0.201 and 0.015, respectively. Principal component analyses (PCA) and population structure identified two major groups (sub-populations) based on SNPs information. The results indicated a substantial gene flow/exchange with many migrants (Nm = 86.428) and a considerable genetic diversity (number of different alleles, Na = 1.977; the number of effective alleles, Ne = 1.519; and Shannon's information index, I = 0.477) within the population, illustrating a good source for wheat improvement. The average PIC of 0.201 demonstrates moderate genetic diversity of the present evaluated advanced breeding panel. Analysis of molecular variance (AMOVA) detected 1% and 99% variance between and within subgroups. It is indicative of excessive gene traffic (less genetic differentiation) among the populations. These conclusions deliver important information with the potential to contribute new beneficial alleles using genome-wide association studies (GWAS) and marker-assisted selection to enhance genetic gain in South Asian wheat breeding programs.Bread wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) is an allohexaploid species originating from successive rounds of hybridization in the Fertile Crescent during the Neolithic time, ∼8,000 to 10,000 years ago (Sansaloni et al., 2020). Wheat is the largest contributor to world grain production, with nearly 30% of total grain production and 50% of the world grain trade (Akter & Rafiqul Islam, 2017). Wheat grain is among the most consumed grains worldwide, providing 15% of calories every day, covering more than 220 million hectares with almost 750 metric megatons production every year (Balfourier et al., 2019). The global demand for wheat has increased due to population growth, changing food consumption habits, and socio-economic environments, specifically in African and Asian countries (Mondal et al., 2016).During the domestication process, a substantial loss of diversity resulted in genetic bottlenecks. Researchers have been interested in using the genetic diversity of Triticeae species. Some of the vital gene pools include Agropyron, Aegilops, Elymus, Leymus, Hordeum, Secale, Triticum, and Thinopyrum. Above mentioned rich gene pools could improve various traits such as tolerance to biotic and abiotic stresses and micronutrient availability. Novel alleles from around fifty-two species have been introgressed, pointing out the significance of exotic introgressions in the breeding (Wulft & Moscou, 2014).Population structure, genetic diversity, and relationships among genotypes are vital in scheming appropriate breeding plans (Peterson et al., 2014;Singh, Agarwal & Yadav, 2019). The population structure information aids in estimating the accurate association between phenotypic and genotypic variation (Knowler et al., 1988). The population structure information allows researchers to utilize natural diversity to detect vital genes/QTLs using current genetic technologies (Zhu et al., 2008). Genetic diversity studies have advanced from mere detection of distinct morphological to molecular traits investigations of DNA variation (Zhang, Maroof & Kleinhofs, 1993). Determining the current genetic diversity of crops has paramount importance for the selection and conservation of parents with the various genetic framework, thus providing well-organized crop enhancement (Mengistu, Kiros & Pè, 2015).The first generation of morphological markers could not present the actual picture of diversity because of their limited number, lack of information about environmental and epistatic interaction. Slowly the paradigm shifted to investigate genetic diversity and population structure using PCR (polymerase chain reaction) based markers, which gave a better view of underlying diversity markers due to their abundance and environmentally neutral nature (Farahani et al., 2019). Among various molecular markers, the SNP marker is the preferred molecular marker in several crops due to extensive genome coverage, chromosome-specific location, low cost, co-dominant inheritance, and fast-tracking compared to other PCR-based markers. SNP are evolutionarily stable due to lower rates of recurrent mutation. SNPs are considered first-rate to understand genomic evolution and to study complex traits. SNPs have been extensively used in genetic resource characterization, genome-wide association studies (GWAS), genomic selection (GS), and marker-assisted selection (MAS) (Ganal, Altmann & Röder, 2009).Microarrays have been used as a pre-eminent answer to develop SNPs in polyploid wheat genomes (Wang et al., 2014). Once an all-inclusive SNP data is accessible for species, a cost-effective microarray may be formed, and the process is relatively convenient. Microarray evades the miscalling risk of diversity on homoeologous genomes and lately with amplified 100 fold in wheat moving from 9 K (Cavanagh et al., 2013) to 820 K (Winfield et al., 2016). The 90 K wheat SNP array (Wang et al., 2014) has been effectively utilized for genetic diversity investigation, the building of high-density maps, and GWAS (Maccaferri et al., 2015;Chen et al., 2016;Mengistu et al., 2016;Wen et al., 2017). The low cost of genotyping by sequencing (GBS) makes it a robust approach for discovering and genotyping SNPs in various crops. GBS has been efficiently applied in genomic diversity, genetic linkage studies, and genomic selection in largescale plant breeding programs. GBS is found to be a perfect platform from single-gene to whole-genome sequencing and suited to genetic analysis and marker development (Heffner, Sorrells & Jannink, 2009;Heffner et al., 2010;Jannink, Lorenz & Iwata, 2010;Fu & Peterson, 2011;Poland & Rife, 2012;Poland et al., 2012;Thomson et al., 2012;Lu et al., 2013;Fu, Cheng & Peterson, 2014). The GBS has been established with maize and barley inbred populations with roughly 200,000 and 25,000 sequence tags, respectively (Elshire et al., 2011).In the current study, GBS was used for genotyping 141 elite advanced breeding lines of spring wheat from CIMMYT (Mexico). The objectives were to illustrate the population structure and genetic diversity within and among subgroups. The present study not only defines the population structure and genetic diversity in these elite advanced wheat breeding lines also places a groundwork for genome-wide association study in this panel.One hundred forty-one advanced breeding lines (ABLs) developed at CIMMYT, Mexico using adapted cultivars from various worldwide breeding programs were used in studying genetic diversity. These lines have been selected from a more extensive set of advanced breeding lines sent to South Asia as part of the CIMMYT wheat breeding program to develop high-yielding varieties suitable for the region. The lines were introduced in 2016 as the 4th cohort of the South Asia Bread Wheat Genomic Prediction Yield Trial (SABWGPYT). The lines were developed by making crosses with diverse and high yielding parental lines as part of the CIMMYT Global Wheat Program (GWP). A set of approx. thirty-eight thousand lines were planted in small plots in Obregon during the 2015-16 crop season. The selection was made based on yield and agronomic traits. Then lines from different genetic backgrounds were carefully selected as candidate varieties suitable for further testing in South Asia. The pedigree details data of those 141 advanced breeding lines are given in Table S1.Genomic DNA was extracted using the modified CTAB method from the fresh leaves of wheat seedlings (Dreisigacker et al., 2016). Genotyping-by-sequencing was performed in Illumina HiSeq 2500 using protocol from Poland et al. (2012). SNP calling was performed using TASSEL v5.2.6 (Bradbury et al., 2007) using the TASSEL-GBSv2 pipeline and aligned to the reference Chinese Spring Wheat Assembly (RefSeq v1.0). Beagle v4.1 with default settings was used to impute missing data. After filter criteria quality control (sample call rate >0.8, MAF ≥ 0.05, SNP call rate >0.7), 14,563 polymorphic SNPs and 141 genotypes were selected for further analysis.The genotypic summary of the 14,563 SNPs was obtained using the ''geno summary'' function of TASSEL v5.2.6 (Bradbury et al., 2007). Chromosome-wise genomic SNP distribution, minor allele frequency (MAF), observed heterozygosity, and the polymorphism information content (PIC) were performed using GBS-based SNP markers. The PIC value of each biallelic SNP marker was computed using the following method derived from (Botstein et al., 1980):The population structure of the advanced bread wheat breeding lines was inferred using the Bayesian method implemented in STRUCTURE 2.3.4 (Pritchard, Stephens & Donnelly, 2000). Ten individualistic evaluations of every k were used. The STRUCTURE was placed on 100,000 burn-in, subsequently 100,000 Markov chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) replications.The best k for the present population was determined using the evanno algorithm (Evanno, Regnaut & Goudet, 2005) implemented in Pophelper v2.3.1 (Francis, 2017). Optimal K/subpopulation was identified by the delta k-value peaks across various k values. Principal component analysis (PCA) based on covariates was performed of the SNP data in Tassel 5.2.6 (Bradbury et al., 2007) and plotted using Plotly v4.9.3 (Sievert, 2020). The PCAs were used to construct dendrograms using r package ape v5.4-1 (Paradis & Schliep, 2019) using the complete linkage method for hierarchical clustering.The selected K value from structure output was used to subdivide the advanced wheat lines into sub-populations and was utilized for AMOVA. AMOVA and genetic diversity indices were performed for individual sub-population using GeneAlEx v6.41 (Peakall & Smouse, 2006). The percentage of molecular variance among and within subgroups was calculated from AMOVA. The haploid number of migrants (Nm) was calculated using the among-population variance (Va) and within-population variance (Vw) using the formulaThe calculation of Shannon's Information Index (I ), effective alleles (Ne), different alleles (Na), number of loci with private alleles, unbiased diversity (uh), and the haploid genetic diversity index (h) were also performed.Na was calculated by direct count of alleles across subpopulations per loci and averaged by the arithmetic mean across loci per sub-population. Ne was calculated using expected heterozygosity by formulaHere p is the frequency of the allele. I was calculated (per locus and averaged across the number of loci) using the formula.Where ln is the natural logarithm of p i, i.e., frequency of ith allele, private alleles are the alleles unique to the subpopulation. The haploid genetic diversity index (h) provides the probability that the two individuals would be different and was calculated using the formula.The unbiased diversity (uh) was calculated using the allele frequency and sample size (n) with a formula.A total of 14,563 bi-allelic SNPs were equitably distributed across the three genomes.  The heterozygosity among all SNPs ranged from 0.00 to 0.149. Twenty-one SNPs showed high heterozygosity (>0.10), and 3,095 SNPs showed zero heterozygosity (Fig. 1B, Table S2).The heterozygosity was less than 0.05 for around 97% of the SNPs. SNPs in chr7A showed the highest heterozygosity, with SNP S7A_717968190 having heterozygosity of 0.149. The three ABLs, namely GID7396143, GID7399653, and GID7400318, were highly heterologous with heterozygosity equal to 0.16, 0.15, and 0.12, respectively (Table S3). The MAF ranged from 0.05 to 0.50 in the present study. Fifty-five SNPs were found with MAF =0.50 (where both the alleles of these SNPs were equally distributed across the panel). The average observed MAF was 0.23, while most ranged from 0.05 to 0.10, i.e., 2923 SNPs (Fig. 1C).The PIC values ranged from 0.085 to 0.250, with 54 SNPs having a PIC value equal to 0.250 (Fig. 1D). 5353 SNPs (36%) showed a range of 0.24−0.25 for PIC and were the highest among the SNPs. The STRUCTURE results for the 141 ABLs showed that K was highest at K = 2, indicating the presence of two major subgroups (Fig. 2A). The output of the STRUCTURE for K = 2 is given in Fig. 2B. The structure out showed very high K for K = 2, compared to other K values, only a few genotypes represented complete distinction between the subgroups. Some genotypes across the subgroups showed near equal distribution of alternative alleles. Similar results were revealed by the PCA analysis where the genotypes of the subgroups could be seen clustered near each other when the first three principal components were observed (Fig. 2C). The dendrogram based on PCA also showed similar results (Fig. 3).The analysis was performed considering K = 2. The variance among groups for K = 2 explained only 1% of the total variance and 99% variance within the subgroups. It indicates that the genetic differentiation within subgroups was high. Simultaneously, it was low among the subgroups (Table 2, Fig. 4), which may be due to the low genetic differentiation or excessive gene traffic between the population set. The high gene traffic is supported by the variation trends of both percentages of variance explained and haploid Nm values. The Nm values (haploid number of migrants) was very high, with Nm = 86.428. The mean Shannon's information index (I), the diversity index (h), and the unbiased diversity index (uh) were high (0.477, 0.313, and 0.320), which indicated its high diversity (Table 3, Fig. 4). The mean of different alleles (Na) and the effective alleles (Ne) of the K = 2 population set were 1.977 and 1.519. The different alleles (Na) in the subgroup 1 (G1) and subgroup 2 (G2) were 1.954 and 2.0, respectively, indicating comparatively better diversity in G2 than G1 (Table 3).Similarly, the numbers of effective alleles (Ne) was relatively higher in G2 (1.525) than in G1 (1.512). However, only G2 showed a significant percentage of private alleles, i.e., 4.6%. G1 contained 22 members with private allele ranging from 7 in GID7399640 to 149 in GID7400491, while G2 contained 90 members with private alleles ranging from 3 in GID7396143 to 188 in GID7400293 (Table 3 & Table S4). The diversity indexes I, h and uh for G1 & G2 were 0.468 and 0.487, 0.307 and 0.318, 0.320 and 0.321, respectively, indicating relatively higher diversity within G2 than G1.    A panel of 141 genotypes from an extensive collection of elite advanced bread wheat breeding lines from CIMMYT, Mexico, was used to study the genetic diversity (Table S1).The high-throughput SNP genotypic data obtained through GBS was used to explore population genetics and genetic diversity, supporting future breeding efforts (e.g., GWAS) in the bread wheat breeding program in South Asia.The majority of the 14,563 SNPs were distributed on A and B genome, and only 8.67% SNPs were on D genome, which is at par with earlier findings (Chao et al., 2009;Akhunov et al., 2010;Berkman et al., 2013;Würschum et al., 2013;Marcussen et al., 2014;Shavrukov et al., 2014;Edae, Bowden & Poland, 2015;Alipour et al., 2017;Eltaher et al., 2018;Rufo et al., 2019). The lower SNPs across the D genome indicates its young wheat evolutionary past and less genetic diversity (Caldwell et al., 2004;Alipour et al., 2017;Eltaher et al., 2018), which could be explained by lower recombination rates and frequency in the D genome (Chao et al., 2009). This could further be defined as a larger wild emmer diversity which contributed to hexaploid formation than Ae. tauschii (D-genome donor) (Dubcovsky & Dvorak, 2007). Significant initial gene movement must have occurred amongst T. aestivum and T. turgidum (AABB); however, not amongst Ae. tauschii (DD) and hexaploid (Caldwell et al., 2004;Dvorak et al., 2006). It leads to less genetic diversity in the D genome compared to the A and B genomes (Talbert, Smith & Blake, 1998;Caldwell et al., 2004;Dvorak et al., 2006;Berkman et al., 2013). The role of A, B, and D genomes to genetic diversity of hexaploid wheat were reported prior via diverse markers systems, i.e., RFLPs, AFLP, SSRs, DArT (Liu & Tsunewaki, 1991;Röder et al., 1998;Peng et al., 2000;Nielsen et al., 2014). The smallest number of SNP were on 4D, while the maximum markers were positioned on chromosome 2B, which agrees with Allen et al. (2017) and Bhatta et al. (2017). Previous studies also reported the lowest number of SNPs at the 4D (Saintenac et al., 2013;Sukumaran et al., 2014;Allen et al., 2017;Alipour et al., 2017;Bhatta et al., 2017). While the highest SNP have been on a different chromosome in some of these studies, i.e., 3B (Saintenac et al., 2013;Alipour et al., 2017) and1B (Sukumaran et al., 2014).The low levels of observed heterozygosity (0.00−0.149), with approximately 97% of SNPs having heterozygosity <0.05 and only 21 SNPs having heterozygosity above 0.10, showed the panel had high genetic stability (Kristensen et al., 2018;Rimbert et al., 2018;Chu et al., 2020;Sun et al., 2020). Since these lines would/may not segregate further across generation leading to stable phenotypic evaluations. The lines with the low heterozygosity are highly desirables for selection as parental genotypes in any breeding program. Furthermore, the least heterozygous lines (GID7395694, GID7399636, GID7399643, GID7399645, and GID7400337) and highly heterozygous lines (GID7396143, GID7399653, and GID7400318) were observed among ABLs (Table S3). High heterozygosity among these three ABLs indicates either genomic instability or the higher outcrossing ability of these lines. MAF could easily arbitrate the allelic distribution of the SNPs. In this study, 55 SNPs were identified with MAF equal to 0.50. Traits showing distribution patterns similar to these SNPs could be easily associated with such SNPs.PIC values are signals of informative markers in the crops and reflect through the spreading of informative markers in the genome, which can be used for studying genetic diversity (Nielsen et al., 2014;Salem & Sallam, 2016). The moderately informative PIC values indicate the SNPs' bi-allelic nature, which is limited to PIC 0.5, where both the alleles have similar occurrences (Eltaher et al., 2018). Another reason is the slow nucleotide mutation rate in GBS-SNPs compared to the mutation rate of SSRs (Thuillet et al., 2002;Chesnokov & Artemyeva, 2015). Most of the SNPs were moderately informative, with PIC values ranged from 0.085 to 0.250. The average PIC value among all sites was 0.201 (Fig. 1D). Lopes et al. (2015) used the 9K SNP for the WAMI population, detected a PIC value of 0.27 and disclosed that spring wheat confined moderate polymorphism. In another study, Novoselović et al. (2016) obtained an average moderate polymorphism of 0.30 PIC amongst the Croatian population by 1,229 Diversity Arrays Technology (DArT) markers. Furthermore, El-Esawi et al. (2018) also found moderate PIC (0.33 and 0.29) in Australian and Belgian wheat, respectively. Intrestingly, Eltaher et al. (2018) also detected a moderate PIC value of 0.25 in 270 F3V6 Nebraska winter wheat. The present study outcome is following the above-mentioned previous studies.In the present study, the STRUCTURE analysis was identified by K with the highest peak at K = 2, which is vital for the elucidation of genetic diversity. Winfield et al. (2016) used 32,443 SNP markers and 804 wheat genotypes collected from over 30 countries. They detected that most European wheat accessions were grouped together, divided from the Asian and Middle Eastern accessions. Cavanagh et al. (2013) also reported that the winter wheat from the European population displayed robust genetic differentiation in their study. Chen et al. (2019) described that West Asian, European, numerous Central and South Asian landraces, and most East Asian cultivars grouped in the same cluster, whiles most of the East Asian landraces were grouped with South, Central and West Asian landraces. Lee et al. (2018) described that most Japanese, Korean and genotypes from Afghanistan were grouped in a cluster, while the Middle Eastern, Chinese, and Caucasus germplasm were in a separate group. The genetic diversity and population structure in the current ABLs were not surprising since the genetic composition, despite being variable, is restricted due to common ancestry (Table S1), leading to closely linked clusters. PCA and dendrogram results were in agreement with STRUCTURE results. They exhibited closely related groups, which might be because the selection of lines was based on traits in wheat, e.g., yield, biotic, and abiotic resistance arising from the parental pedigree of genotypes. Besides genetic diversity analysis, genetic structure analysis for subgroups composition is also an essential part of genome-wide association studies (GWAS) to counter false positives arising due to common ancestry among the panel of genotypes (Yao et al., 2019). Hence, population interchange and exploitation of global germplasm have become an essential preliminary step to increase the genetic source for wheat breeding (Zhao et al., 2019).Private alleles provide important information identifying distinctive genetic variability at loci and diversified genotypes, which could be employed in crop breeding to enhance the allele affluence in a population (Borba et al., 2009;Salem & Sallam, 2016). For K = 2, G1 and G2 contained 22 and 90 members with private alleles, respectively, illustrating a clear difference in the lines containing private alleles (Table S4). These results indicate G2 being genetically diverse compared with subgroup G1, further supported by slightly higher values of diversity indexes in G2 (0.318) than G1(0.307). Similar results have been previously observed in studies on wheat genotypes using SNP markers where higher values of I, u and uh in a subgroup are indicative of a higher diversity of the group (Alipour et al., 2017;Eltaher et al., 2018;Kumar et al., 2020;Mourad, Belamkar & Baenziger, 2020). A system should be designed to identify private alleles equipped for receiving and harnessing the essential adaptive genes.The AMOVA results showed high genetic diversity within-subgroups; however, the diversity between subgroups was very low (1%). The result may be due to the common parental backgrounds and selection based on designated agronomic traits resulted in high gene flow levels. This low level of variation among the stratified groups occurs due to increased gene exchange described by Arora et al. (2014). The allelic outlines elucidated valuable evidence on genetic diversity in each subgroup. Wright (1965) also described restricted Nm (haploid) gene flow between populations. In the current study, a very high Nm value (86.428), suggesting a high level of genetic exchange/flow among the subgroups, caused small genetic variation (Eltaher et al., 2018). Hence, the high genetic interchange amid subgroups directed to a small genetic variation amongst subgroups. The variation amongst subgroups was noteworthy (P <0.001) regardless of being low (1%). The present study results will aid breeders to understand the genetic diversity and perform marker-assisted selection on this panel.In the present study, we applied GBS-based SNP to learn GBS-SNP markers' usefulness for diversity analysis in 141 elite wheat breeding lines. Despite very designated, our advanced breeding lines panel was found to be genetically diverse, which could be instrumental for future South Asian breeding programs to develop new elite wheat varieties of alluring traits, i.e., high yield, biotic and abiotic resistance. Besides, the present study dappled two subgroups that were enlightened by their parentage and selection history. The low heterozygosity detected among elite advanced wheat breeding lines within subgroups and the moderate divergence among subgroups suggested that the elite advanced wheat breeding lines could be used further for GWAS studies.• Guriqbal Singh Dhillon analyzed the data, prepared figures and/or tables, authored or reviewed drafts of the paper, and approved the final draft.• Daljit Singh analyzed the data, authored or reviewed drafts of the paper, and approved the final draft.• Ravi Prakash Singh, Arun Kumar Joshi, Budhi Sagar Tiwari and Uttam Kumar conceived and designed the experiments, authored or reviewed drafts of the paper, and approved the final draft.• Jesse Poland conceived and designed the experiments, performed the experiments, authored or reviewed drafts of the paper, performed the GBS, and approved the final draft."}

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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"db14cc60df834272a3441c355d032449","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/ee97e22d-e0e4-4dc6-a263-d7645274f9f8/retrieve","id":"1922065975"},"keywords":["• P730 -Activity 1","2","3: Breeding Schemes OICR: Outcome Impact Case Report"],"sieverID":"1a0a2065-faae-40cd-b31d-770930ee1509","content":"Community-based breeding programs (CBBP) developed and implemented by the International Center for Agricultural Research in the Dry Areas (ICARDA) and partners have become an accepted strategy of choice for small ruminant genetic improvement in Ethiopia. In 2021, 23 Ethiopian Universities formally integrated the breeding strategy and related technical material in their animal breeding curriculum at the bachelor's degree level. This sets the stage for greater availability of skilled professional breeders to scale up CBBP in Ethiopia.Community-based breeding is an alternative genetic improvement approach in smallholder and resource-poor farming systems that was introduced in 2009 by ICARDA, in partnership with the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI), the University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences (BOKU) and national research institutes.The program is participatory and captures the indigenous knowledge of farmers, who are the main drivers of the program. Because the primary resource base is internal input, such as indigenous breeds of sheep and goat, the approach is both sustainable and cost-effective.The growing popularity and success of community-based breeding programs (CBBPs) in rural communities have attracted the interest of the government, educators, national partners and donors. By 2021, 7000 households were engaged in CBBPs, with numerous socio-economic benefits. CBBP participants are supplying on average 18 more sheep and goat per household to markets in a period of 12 months compared to non-participants, households earn about 20% more gross income/adult equivalent compared to non-participants, and more meat is being consumed at the household level -3 animals are slaughtered per year compared to one at the start of the program.Until recently, CBBP growth was driven by ICARDA researchers, together with partners, and funding support. To ensure the sustainability and longevity of the strategy, however, greater capacity and supply of professional and specialized animal breeders are needed. This shift began to occur in 2019, when two universities incorporated CBBPs in their MSc curriculum.Building on this success, ICARDA engaged with 25 Ethiopian universities to integrate CBBPs into their animal science bachelor's degree curricula. In 2021, 23 universities adopted a jointly developed curriculum that includes CBBP objectives, strategies, data and materials. Ten universities also established 24 CBBP villages, to provide practical hands-on learning and enhance the community service delivery component through CBBPs.University management and staff have been instrumental to the process. This has generated excitement amongst young students to receive proper training in breeding, which will open up opportunities for genetic improvement and serve as a learning site on husbandry practices of small ruminants suitable for different production systems.The revamped animal breeding curricula and the commitment from universities to maintain them, are expected to produce graduates who are skilled in animal breeding. These professionals will be poised to build the momentum generated from years of CBBPs, to meet the growing demand for more productive sheep and goats, which can help deliver greater livelihood and nutrition outcomes.• Universities in Ethiopia have a unique role to play in contributing towards genetic improvement and food security. They have a critical mass of students and academic staff that can potentially run CBBPs, for the mutual benefit of all involved. In addition, they have a combined mandate comprising research, teaching and delivery of community services.Thus far, however, most universities have not been successful on delivering on the three mandate areas. Much of this is due to static, outdated curricula resulting from a consistent lack of practice of integrating scientific achievements and advances. The inclusion of local data in the teaching and learning resource materials is also dismal which has impact on quality and relevance of agricultural education.In 2021, ICARDA researchers approached the upper management of 23 Universities offering animal science degrees with the suggestion to integrate CBBP in their curricula, based on the results of research, such as guidelines for establishing CBBPs [2]. Reviews of the curricula were jointly undertaken, with proposals to update them and introduce the culture of using local data in teaching practices. After a series of joint consultations, a final amended curriculum was passed. CBBP, its relevant data and reference materials have been fully integrated into animal breeding courses offered in the third year of animal science bachelor's degrees [1].Animal breeding professionals teaching animal breeding courses, together with community service directors from each university, participated in training workshops that were designed to reach a common understanding of the different components of CBBP, including breeding objectives, breeding structure, data management and analyses and dividends of CBBP villages to university activities.In a further step to embed practical and hands-on learning and to enhance the community service component of CBBPs, 10 universities agreed to establish 24 CBBP in nearby villages. The remaining 13 universities are working to establish CBBP villages.The favourable experiences and lessons learned in the engagement process with the universities have paved the way to integrate climate risk management strategies in the programs in eight of the universities.The graduates from these university courses will be poised to build the momentum generated from years of CBBPs, to meet the growing demand for more productive sheep and goats, which have been proven to help deliver greater livelihood and nutrition outcomes [3]. It is estimated that 805 students and 138 staff per year will benefit from the curriculum amendments."}

main/part_2/0082554956.json

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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"8fc5987b9f4891746d0b5cb0d380379a","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/daa26db5-80f9-4017-be7d-fd649de7f1f5/retrieve","id":"-693239402"},"keywords":["badnavirus","multiplex PCR","denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis","yam","Dioscorea spp.","West Africa","endogenous badnaviral elements"],"sieverID":"dab471e3-95b5-4909-ae48-3f087b998929","content":"Viruses of the genus Badnavirus (family Caulimoviridae) are double-stranded DNA-reverse transcribing (dsDNA-RT) plant viruses and have emerged as serious pathogens of tropical and temperate crops globally. Endogenous badnaviral sequences are found integrated in the genomes of several economically important plant species. Infection due to activation of replication-competent integrated copies of the genera Badnavirus, Petuvirus and Cavemovirus has been described. Such endogenous badnaviral elements pose challenges to the development of nucleic acid-based diagnostic methods for episomal virus infections and decisions on health certi cation for international movement of germplasm and seed. One major food security crop affected is yam (Dioscorea spp.). A diverse range of Dioscorea bacilliform viruses (DBVs), and endogenous DBV (eDBV) sequences have been found to be widespread in yams cultivated in West Africa and other parts of the world. This study outlines the development of multiplex PCR-dependent denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis (PCR-DGGE) to assist in the detection and analysis of eDBVs, through the example of analysing yam germplasm from Nigeria and Ghana. Primers targeting the three most prevalent DBV monophyletic species groups in West Africa were designed to improve DGGE resolution of complex eDBV sequence ngerprints. Multiplex PCR-DGGE with the addition of a tailor-made DGGE sequence marker enables rapid comparison of endogenous badnaviral sequence diversity across germplasm, as illustrated in this study for eDBV diversity in yam.Members of the genus Badnavirus, family Caulimoviridae, are the most widespread viruses known to infect yams and other economically important crop plants, such as banana, black pepper, cacao, citrus, sugarcane, and taro globally (Borah et al., 2013;Bhat et al., 2016).eir high serological and genetic diversity challenges the development of reliable diagnostic tests for badnaviruses, as experienced for several crops, e.g., banana, sugarcane and yam (Lockhart, 1986;Harper et al., 2005;Kenyon et al., 2008;Muller et al., 2011).e development of nucleic acid-based diagnostic methods is further complicated due to the presence of integrated badnavirus sequences in some host plant genomes. e discovery of these endogenous counterparts poses serious challenges for reliable diagnosis of episomal infections, taxonomy, seed certi cation, safe movement of germplasm, and disease management (reviewed by Bhat et al., 2016).e vast majority of endogenous badnaviral elements are likely to be inert and essentially signatures of viral infections that may have occurred millions of years ago. To date, only a limited number of endogenous badnaviral elements are known to be able to cause episomal systemic virus infections de novo, following their activation in response to abiotic stresses and other undetermined factors, including breeding (Lockhart et al., 2000;Richert-Pöggeler et al., 2003;Chabannes et al., 2013). Recent attempts to inactivate endogenous banana streak virus (eBSV) sequences in the host plantain (Musa spp.) genome using CRISPR/Cas9-based genome editing appear promising for overcoming the major potential limitation to breeding programmes posed by speci c eBSVs which are activated by hybridization process used in crop breeding (Tripathi et al., 2019).Dioscorea bacilliform viruses (DBVs) are members of the genus Badnavirus and are extremely diverse with at least 15 species groups recognized to date (Kenyon et al., 2008;Bousalem et al., 2009;Umber et al., 2014;Bömer et al., 2016). Yam plants hosting diverse DBVs and mixed infections thereof are a common occurrence in West African yam germplasm (Bömer et al., 2016;Umber et al., 2017), potentially leading to recombinant badnaviruses (Bömer et al., 2018a). Vegetative propagation of yam through its tubers leads to the perpetual propagation of DBVs across cultivation cycles. ere is an urgent need for a sustainable supply of virus-free planting material and the scarcity of 'clean' (i.e., virus-free) material is one of the main factors limiting yam production in West Africa (Maroya et al., 2014;Aighewi et al., 2021). E orts for the development of modern yam seed production methods and the establishment of sustainable seed systems are ongoing (Maroya et al., 2014;Aighewi et al., 2015;Aidoo et al., 2021), and need to be accompanied by the development of accurate diagnostic tools targeting viruses infecting yam (Silva et al., 2015(Silva et al., , 2018;;Nkere et al., 2018;Bömer et al., 2019;Umber et al., 2020).Concerning yam badnaviruses, these diagnostic tools need to di erentiate endogenous DBV (eDBV) sequences from those representing episomal particles. Endogenous DBV sequences were rst discovered in yam in genomes of the D. cayenensisrotundata complex (Seal et al., 2014;Umber et al., 2014). eir discovery meant that classical PCR with generic badnavirus primer pair (Badna-PCR) diagnostic techniques (Yang et al., 2003) were not suitable for the detection of episomal DBV infections, as ampli cation products were also generated from eDBVs. Umber et al. (2014) highlighted that the episomal or endogenous nature of a badnavirus sequence could not be determined from its phylogenetic position, as eDBVs did not form a well-de ned phylogenetic group, but were found to be present in many di erent clades.Considerable e orts have been made to di erentiate between DBVs (Bömer et al., 2016(Bömer et al., , 2018b;;Sukal et al., 2017Sukal et al., , 2019) ) and eDBVs (Seal et al., 2014;Umber et al., 2014Umber et al., , 2017)), an essential step to develop methods for virus indexing of yam germplasm prior to its multiplication. Rolling circle ampli cation (RCA) was found to be useful for episomal virus ampli cation. However, RCA has also been shown to amplify integrated sequences at low frequency and plant plastid sequences (Bömer et al., 2016) and hence sequencing is required to con rm RCA results. Immunocapture-PCR approaches have had limited success due to the lack of availability of e ective antisera (Seal et al., 2014;Bömer et al., 2016).e approach of combining cloning and sequencing of PCR products using the generic badnavirus primer pair (Yang et al., 2003) has the disadvantage of potentially failing to identify all sequence diversity if clones selected are not representative of the total diversity present within a tested plant.High-throughput sequencing (HTS) of small RNAs (sRNA) has been used to characterize endogenous sequences of Florendovirus, a putative new genus of the family Caulimoviridae (Geering et al., 2014). HTS was also used to identify badnavirus sequences integrated in the genome of cacao ( eobroma cacao; Muller et al., 2021) and locate the exact position of the viral insert. In yam and many other crops HTS is of limited use because the endogenous sequences described to date are numerous, fragmented and rearranged (Seal et al., 2014;Umber et al., 2014). Further the full extent of eDBVs is not known and is not possible to locate the position of viral inserts and/ or the anking host genome sequences. HTS datasets for analysis of eDBVs in yam have been challenged also by the need for extensive bioinformatics input to try to resolve complex mixtures of eDBVs.Denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis (DGGE) is a technique that has been widely used in diversity studies of viral genomes (Short and Suttle, 1999;Lyttle et al., 2011;Carmona et al., 2012), as well as the study of plant genome polymorphisms (Riedel et al., 1990;Liu and Lowes, 2013). In DGGE, double stranded and partially denatured DNA di ers in its mobility when analysed by polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis and PCR fragments can be di erentiated based on single base changes through the addition of a GC clamp (She eld et al., 1989;Top, 1992;Green et al., 2010). PCR-dependent denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis (PCR-DGGE) for rapid indication of badnavirus sequence diversity in samples containing multiple eDBVs was rst reported by Turaki et al. (2017). Phylogenetic positions of many DGGEderived yam badnavirus/eDBV sequences suggested that many more putative badnaviruses and eDBVs remain undiscovered, but accurate resolution and further characterization was challenged by complex DGGE ngerprints (Turaki et al., 2017).e design of monophyletic group-speci c primers was proposed to improve DGGE resolution by focusing the analysis on the most prevalent and interesting DBV species (Turaki et al., 2017), such as the DBV species groups K5, K8, K9 and U12 which have all been reported to also contain eDBV sequences (Seal et al., 2014;Umber et al., 2014;Turaki et al., 2017).e aims of this study were therefore (1) to determine whether multiplex PCR-DGGE using DBV species group-speci c primers alongside a tailored DGGE yam badnavirus marker would improve DGGE ngerprint resolution making it more useful for analysis of West African yam germplasm and (2) to evaluate the suitability of this method as a rapid and simple tool for identi cation of the most prevalent conserved eDBVs across yam germplasm.e multiplex PCR-DGGE developed is shown to facilitate the detection of sequence diversity in badnavirus PCR products and would be an applicable method for the analysis of endogenous badnavirus sequences from any plant host, or the resolution of other complex products where HTS is not a viable option. It assists the selection of interesting target sequences and reduces the need for labour-intensive screening of redundant clones, hybridization protocols and/or bioinformatic analyses. Multiplex PCR-DGGE is cost-e ective when a large number of samples need to be analysed.Tubers of Dioscorea rotundata breeding lines (n = 13) and landraces (n = 3) used in this study were grown in a quarantine aphid-proof glasshouse at the Natural Resources Institute (NRI, Chatham Maritime, United Kingdom), as described by Mumford and Seal (1997).ese yam tubers were originally provided by the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA, Ibadan, Nigeria). DNA/leaf specimens (n = 43) collected during eld surveys in Nigeria and Ghana by IITA in 2013 were included in the analysis. Selected individual leaf samples were collected from each plant and placed in small polythene bags (10 cm × 15 cm) and processed immediately for total nucleic acids extraction. Clones of the same yam lines are di erentiated in their names by A and B, e.g., D. rotundata accession (TDr) 89/02475-A and -B, TDr 1892-A and -B, TDr00/00403-A and -B, and D. rotundata landrace Adaka-A and -B.Total nucleic acids (TNA) were extracted from fresh yam leaves (~100 mg) using a modi ed cetyltrimethylammonium bromide (CTAB) method adapted from Lodhi et al. (1994) and as described by Bömer et al. (2018b).is extraction method was used unless speci ed otherwise. TNAs were screened for badnavirus sequences by PCR as described previously (Bömer et al., 2016(Bömer et al., , 2018b;;Turaki et al., 2017) using the generic badnavirus Badna-forward primer (FP) and Badna-reverse primer (RP; Yang et al., 2003), and amplifying a 579 bp region (528 bp excluding primer sequences and representing only complete amino acids) of the RT-RNaseH gene used for taxonomic assessment of badnaviruses (Teycheney et al., 2020). Both Badna-FP and Badna-RP primers were modi ed by the addition of a GC clamp as described previously (Turaki et al., 2017), and referred to as BF-GC (5′ CGC CCG CCG CGC GCG GCG GGC GGG GCG GGG GCA CGG GGG GAT GCC ITT YGG IIT IAA RAA YGC ICC 3′) and BR-GC (5′ CGC CCG CCG CGC GCG GCG GGC GGG GCG GGG GCA CGG GGG GCC AYT TRC AIA CIS CIC CCC AIC C 3′), respectively. Primers K8-F, K8-R, K9-R and U12-R used for multiplex Badna-PCR were designed in this study (Supplementary Table S1). Multiplex Badna-PCR ampli cations for DGGE analysis were set up in 25 μl reactions containing 1 μl of template (TNA extractions diluted to 20 ng/μL), 1.2 μM of BF-GC, 0.4 μM each of the K8-R, K9-R and U12-R primers, 0.25 mM of each deoxynucleotide triphosphate (dNTP), 1 U DreamTaq DNA polymerase and 1× DreamTaq Green bu er ( ermo Scienti c, United Kingdom) containing 2 mM MgCl2.e cycle conditions for multiplex Badna-PCR ampli cation were 95°C for 5 min, followed by 35 cycles of 94°C for 1 min, 55°C for 45 s, 72°C for 2 min and a nal extension of 72°C for 10 min. Prior to DGGE analysis, PCR products were con rmed to be of the correct size by agarose gel electrophoresis through 1.5% (w/v) agarose gels including 1× SYBR Safe DNA gel stain ( ermo Fisher Scienti c, United Kingdom) in 0.5× Tris-Borate-EDTA (TBE) bu er. All primers described were synthesized by Sigma-Aldrich (United Kingdom).DNAs of a subset of yam leaf samples analysed in this study were extracted using the Plant Tissue mini protocol of the DNeasy Plant mini kit (Qiagen) following the TissueLyzer procedure according to the manufacturers' instructions. DNAs were eluted using 50 μl of bu er AE and further diluted 1:5 with molecular grade water (Sigma, United Kingdom) prior to PCR using 1 μl of template as described before. Yam DNA samples analysed by multiplex PCR-DGGE were rst screened by Badna-PCR as described by Bömer et al. (2018b) using 50 μl PCR reactions. ese Badna-PCRs were further puri ed using the reSourceTM PCR Puri cation Kit (Source BioScience, United Kingdom) and then used as templates (1 μl equivalent to approx. 30 ng of PCR products) in 50 μl multiplex PCR ampli cations using primers BF-GC, K8-R, K9-R and U12-R and conditions as outlined above.e DGGE methodology used for yam badnavirus diversity studies was modi ed from that of Turaki et al. (2017) as described below. DGGE was performed using the INGENYphorU-2 × 2 apparatus (INGENY, Netherlands) according to the manufacturers' instructions and comments provided in the protocol by Green et al. (2010). Gradient gels were formed using a peristaltic pump (Rietschle omas, Germany) and a gradient maker device (INGENY) and contained 6.5% (v/v) polyacrylamide (37.5:1 ratio of acrylamide:bis-acrylamide; National Diagnostics, United States).e denaturing gradients of the gels were 30-55% (top to bottom) unless stated otherwise (where 100% is 7 M urea and 40% (v/v) deionized formamide) and prepared in 1× Tris-acetate-EDTA (TAE) electrophoresis bu er. A stacking gel was used for sample (20 μl) loading. Electrophoresis was performed at 80 V at a temperature of 60°C for 18 h and gels were stained with 1X SYBR Gold nucleic acid gel stain (Invitrogen, Life Technologies, UK) in 1× TAE for 30 min at room temperature and subsequently destained in deionized water. Visualization took place on a UV transilluminator (G-box Chemi HR16, Syngene, United Kingdom) and bands of interest were excised from DGGE gels using a sterile scalpel.e DNA was eluted by soaking in 100 μl of molecular grade water (Sigma, United Kingdom) at 4°C overnight. Aliquots were diluted 1:10 and re-ampli ed by PCR using the multiplex Badna-PCR primer combination followed by PCR puri cation and cloning using the pGEM-T Easy vector system (Promega, United Kingdom) according to the manufacturers' instructions prior to sequencing with standard sequencing primers SP6 and T7. To obtain a consensus sequence and control for cross-contamination, two clones from each excised DGGE band were sequenced. All sequencing in this study was performed by Source BioScience (Nottingham, United Kingdom).Yam badnavirus partial RT-RNaseH nucleotide sequences were analysed using MEGA7 (Kumar et al., 2016). For this, Badna-FP/-RP and vector sequences were removed, and the edited sequences were used for similarity basic local alignment search tool (BLAST) searches in the National Centre for Biotechnology Information (NCBI) GenBank database. Multiple alignments of 320 bp long partial RT-RNaseH sequences (inside BF-GC and including the K8-R primer binding sites) were performed using the CLUSTALW default settings in MEGA7, where phylogenetic trees were created using the maximum likelihood method with the Kimura 2-parameter model (Kimura, 1980) and bootstrap values for 1,000 replicates. Sequences within the genus Badnavirus di ering in their RT-RNaseH coding region by more than 20% (sequence divergence) meet the species demarcation criterion according to the International Committee on Taxonomy of Viruses (ICTV; Teycheney et al., 2020). Two hundred and six yam badnavirus partial RT-RNaseH sequences described by Turaki et al. (2017), and the following virus sequences were obtained from the GenBank and used for comparative analyses: banana streak OL virus (BSOLV, AJ002234); cacao swollen shoot Togo A virus (CSSToAV, AJ781003); Commelina yellow mottle virus (ComYMV, NC001343); rice tungro bacilliform virus (RTBV, X57924); sugarcane bacilliform MO virus (SCBMOV, M89923); and taro bacilliform virus (TaBV, AF357836). For consistency, the grouping system reported by Kenyon et al. (2008) was adopted in this study and is similar to Turaki et al. (2017). One group (U12) reported by Umber et al. (2014) and three groups (T13-T15) described by Bömer et al. (2016) were also added to the phylogenetic analysis.Real-time ampli cations were carried out on a Bio-Rad CFX96TM Real Time System as part of the C1000 Touch ermal Cycler (Bio-Rad Laboratories, United States) using the Precision Melt Supermix (Bio-Rad Laboratories, United States) allowing post-PCR high-resolution melt (HRM) analysis according to the manufacturer's instructions. A single reaction with a nal volume of 10 μl contained 5 μl of 2× Precision Melt Supermix, 200 nM of each primer (Badna-FP combined with K8-R, K9-R or U12-R) and 4 μl of 1:100 diluted plasmid preparations (approx. 1-3 ng/μl) of selected DGGE clones. All reactions were performed in duplicates. For thermal cycling, an initial denaturation step at 95°C for 2 min was followed by 45 cycles of 95°C denaturation for 10 s, 56°C annealing for 30 s, and extension at 72°C for 30 s with the plate read in SYBR scan mode. HRM conditions were 95°C for 30 s, followed by 60°C for 1 min and ramping from 65°C to 95°C in 0.1°C increments (10 s per step), during which the uorescence data was collected.e HRM data was automatically analysed using the Precision Melt AnalysisTM so ware (Bio-Rad Laboratories, United States) with default settings, but raising the Tm di erence threshold to 0.5°C.Badnavirus Species Group K8, K9 and U12 e majority of DBV sequences previously identi ed by DGGE belong to yam badnavirus monophyletic species group K8, followed by groups K9 and U12 (Turaki et al., 2017) and all three species groups have been shown to contain eDBV sequences (Umber et al., 2014). Hence, we focused our attention on these three species groups. An alignment of 204 partial RT-RNaseH sequences from GenBank belonging to group K8 and containing a mixture of episomal DBV and eDBV sequences was used to design group K8-speci c forward or reverse primers, to be combined with either the Badna-FP or Badna-RP generic primer in PCR ampli cations. Similarly alignments of 73 K9 and 34 U12 partial RT-RNaseH GenBank sequences were used to design reverse K9 and U12 primers (K9-R and U12-R, Supplementary Table S1) to be used in a multiplex PCR in combination with generic badnavirus and K8-speci c primers.PCR-DGGE analysis requires a GC clamp that can be added to either the forward Badna-FP or reverse Badna-RP primer. We decided to test both degenerate Badna-GC clamp primers (referred to as BF-GC or BR-GC) in combination with the newly designed non-degenerate group K8-speci c primers on a selection of eight yam samples previously tested by Turaki et al. (2017). PCR ampli cations using both primer combinations produced amplicons of the expected sizes and were further analysed by DGGE (Figure 1).e sequences corresponding to six bands (E1-6) of the BF-GC and K8-R primer combination, representing four distinct band positions on the DGGE were analysed using BLAST searches, con rming their species group K8 identity. For example, sequence NGlE5Dr of band E5 was 100% identical to a known endogenous sequence of species group K8 described by Umber et al. (2014), eDBV8 S2h9Dr (KF829997; Table 1). DGGE banding position of all clone sequences corresponding to bands E1-6 were additionally tested by running them alongside the original yam samples and a K8 group sequence marker of pooled clone sequences (Supplementary Figure S1). is con rmation step was to verify that DGGE clone sequences run at the same position as their original DGGE position, which is important for the development of a reliable DGGE marker.Ten bands (F1-10) of the K8-F and BR-GC primer combination were also analysed. Surprisingly, three sequences corresponding to bands F1, F4 and F8 were found to be 99% identical to sequences NGb8aDr (KY555468, Turaki et al., 2017), DBRTV1 and DBRTV1-[2RT] respectively, all of which are clustering in species group T13 and described to be of episomal nature in our previous study (Bömer et al., 2016). Interestingly, the second clones of the F1, F4 and F8 bands were identi ed as sequences clustering in group K8, indicating that the K8-F primer is not exclusively speci c to K8 target sequences, but can also anneal to T13 sequences (despite four nucleotide mismatches) and that these sequences appear to migrate in the same position or at least in very close proximity on the DGGE. Moreover, several sequences were found to be 99% identical to the episomal K8 isolate DBALV-[3RT] (KX008595, Turaki et al., 2017). Further evaluation showed better reproducibility of biological replicates and reduced complexity using the BF-GC/K8-R primer combination in comparison to the K8-F/BR-GC primer combination. Hence, the BF-GC/K8-R primer set was used for the multiplex PCR-DGGE analysis.e multiplex PCR-DGGE analysis approach was rst tested on seven samples of D. rotundata breeding lines and one landrace.ese samples were run alongside K8 single plex PCR-DGGE analysis of seven yam eld samples from Nigeria and Ghana (Figure 2). K9 and U12 single plex PCR-DGGE analysis (Supplementary Figure S2) were performed on the same yam samples shown in Figure 1. D. rotundata breeding lines TDr 99/02607 and TDr 04/219 were included in all four primer combinations for comparison. A total of 19 distinct bands (I1-14, Figure 2 and J1-5, Supplementary Figure S2) generated across the four primer combinations assessed by DGGE were excised, cloned and sequenced (Table 1). Typically, two clones per excised DGGE band were sequenced, and both sequences are presented in Table 1 except for those which were found to be 100% identical to each other.  Using the primer combination of BF-GC + K9-R, sequences NGbJ1a/bDr and NGbJ2a/bDr were found to be 100% identical to eDBV9 S1e3Dr (KF829969, Umber et al., 2014). is integrated badnavirus sequence appears to be present in D. rotundata breeding lines (e.g., TDr 99/02607 and TDr 89/02475) and landrace (e.g., TDr 1892) according to the band position (Supplementary Figure S2). is was con rmed in the multiplex PCR-DGGE (Figure 2) by sequence of NGbI1bDr from TDr 89/02475. Sequences 99-100% identical to eDBV12 S1a4Dr (KF829956, Umber et al., 2014)     (e.g., TDr Pona and TDr 1892) and breeding lines (e.g., TDr 89/02677 and TDr 96/00629) following PCR-DGGE using the BF-GC + U12-R primer pair. e banding pattern detected in multiplex PCR-DGGE (Figure 2) showed an overlay with the single plex PCR-DGGEs using K8-, K9-or U12-speci c primers (Figure 1 and Supplementary Figure S2).is con rms the reliability and e ectiveness of the multiplex approach and thus enables focusing on species groups K8, K9 and U12 and in particular endogenous sequences within these groups in the analysis of yam germplasm by DGGE.e design of monophyletic group-speci c primers and their use in multiplex Badna-PCRs in this study was proposed to improve DGGE resolution while reducing the complexity of the DBV ngerprints at the same time.e successful implementation of this approach can be observed in a direct comparison of Badna-PCR and multiplex Badna-PCR products of three D. rotundata landraces and eleven D. rotundata breeding lines by DGGE (Figure 3).A set of 43 yam samples collected from farmer elds in Nigeria and Ghana were analysed for badnavirus diversity by multiplex PCR-DGGE (Supplementary Figure S3). Detailed sample information including multiplex Badna-PCR screening results are provided in Supplementary Table S2. All 43 samples were indexed as badnavirus positive for at least one of the three species groups tested by multiplex Badna-PCR. Twenty-two out of 43 samples (51%) were scored positive for K8 sequences, whereas 58 and 67% of all 43 samples found to contain K9 and U12 sequences, respectively. Interestingly, 77% of the 22 Nigerian yam samples were indexed as K8 positive, but only 24% of the 21 Ghanaian samples appeared to have K8 DBV sequences. A greater number (64%) of Nigerian samples also scored positive for K9 sequences compared with 52% of samples from Ghana. In contrast, Ghanaian samples had more U12 sequences (71% compared to 64%; Supplementary Table S2). Use of the multiplex Badna-PCR approach allowed rapid evaluation of badnavirus/eDBV diversity. Interesting bands can be sequenced, as illustrated by the discovery of sequence NGfK3aDr, which has a unique position in the phylogenetic tree (Figure 4) and was found to have only 92% sequence similarity to GyM1Dt (EF466081, Bousalem et al., 2009) as nearest match.e multiplex PCR-DGGE approach also highlighted unique band patterns for D. dumetorum cv. Una (sample N12-31), an unknown D. cayenensis cv. (sample N1-4), D. rotundata cv. Fasktse, Hembakwase, Lansirin, Alasini and Amula (samples N30-22, N26-1, N37-7, N39-1 and N40-18, respectively), and unknown D. rotundata varieties (samples N9-8 and N38-1) all sampled in Nigeria (Supplementary Figure S3A).e Nigerian samples appear to contain more integrated DBV sequences belonging to group K8, considering the number of bands detected by multiplex PCR-DGGE compared to the samples from Ghana, and re ect the multiplex-PCR results described in Supplementary Table S2. All 135 partial RT-RNaseH sequences generated in this study were subjected to similarity BLAST searches in the NCBI GenBank databases and nearest matches with percent identities are presented in Table 1. Phylogenetic analysis was performed with all sequences except those 19 sequences which were produced using the K8-F and BR-GC primer combination. e remaining 116 partial RT-RNaseH sequences were trimmed to 320 bp, aligned and a phylogenetic tree created (Figure 4).Phylogenetic analyses of badnaviruses are typically based on 528 bp partial RT-RNaseH sequences inside the Badna-FP/-RP binding sites. erefore, we needed to con rm that the shorter 320 bp DBV sequences were still targeting a long enough sequence stretch of the partial RT-RNaseH region enabling taxonomic assessment of badnaviruses (Teycheney et al., 2020). For this, a phylogenetic tree using the same badnavirus sequences as described in Bömer et al. (2016) but shortening them to the described 320 bp sequence stretch was created, and the topology of that tree was compared to the original tree based on the 528 bp long DBV sequences [Figure 2 in Bömer et al.FIGURE 4 | Bootstrap consensus phylogenetic tree using Maximum Likelihood method built from 320 bp long partial RT-RNaseH nucleotide sequences of 135 yam badnavirus sequences determined in this study. Included in the analysis are partial RT-RNaseH sequences with names and GenBank accession numbers of previously analysed yam samples (Eni et al., 2008;Kenyon et al., 2008;Bousalem et al., 2009;Seal et al., 2014;Umber et al., 2014Umber et al., , 2017;;Bömer et al., 2016;Sukal et al., 2017;Turaki et al., 2017) (2016)]. Both phylogenetic trees showed very similar topologies with all DBV sequences falling into their designated species groups, con rming that the 320 bp long partial RT-RNaseH sequence stretch correlates su ciently well for yam badnavirus phylogenetic analysis (data not shown). e 116 partial RT-RNaseH sequences fall within four monophyletic groups (Figure 4 and Table 1) according to the suggested classi cation of yam badnaviruses (Kenyon et al., 2008;Bousalem et al., 2009;Umber et al., 2014;Bömer et al., 2016). Twenty-nine DBV sequences from D. rotundata samples clustered into monophyletic group K8, with 23 of these sharing 98-100% sequence identity to either eDBV8 clone S2h9Dr (KF829997, Umber et al., 2014) or sequences NGb58Dr, NGb23bDr and NGb5Dr detected by DGGE and suspected to be of endogenous nature as described previously (Turaki et al., 2017).ese 23 sequences scatter across two highly conserved sub-groups within K8 and it appears likely that their corresponding bands represent integrated sequences, as the presence of such high identity episomal viruses in all the di erent yam material would not be expected. In contrast, the remaining K8 sequences (NGfI9a/bDr, NGfI14aDr, NGfK1a/ bDr and NGfK3aDr) derive from eld survey samples, have unique positions in the phylogenetic tree and sequence similarities of only 92-94% to their respective nearest match and are likely to therefore represent episomal DBVs.Fi y-six DBV sequences from D. alata, D. cayenensis and D. rotundata samples clustered into two conserved sub-groups within monophyletic group K9 (Figure 4). irty-one of these shared 99-100% sequence identity to eDBV9 clone S1e3Dr (KF829969, Umber et al., 2014), 12 sequences were 99% identical FIGURE 5 | Multiplex PCR-DGGE analysis of partial RT-RNaseH badnavirus sequences from two landraces (Aloshi and Adaka-A and -B) and ten breeding lines (TDr) of D. rotundata. Multiplex PCR ampli cations using primers BF-GC, K8-R, K9-R and U12-R were checked for their expected amplicon sizes of 387 bp (K8), 447 bp (K9) and 565 bp (U12) on a 1.5% (w/v) agarose gel (black gel photograph on top) before DGGE analysis (bottom gel). The denaturing gradient was 35-50% and DGGE was performed at 80 V at a temperature of 60°C for 18 h. M denotes DGGE sequence marker and closest NCBI BLAST identity search results are indicated including monophyletic species group assignments K8 and K9 described by Kenyon et al. (2008) and U12 by Umber et al. (2014). Band numbers 1-24 were excised, reampli ed and cloned. The corresponding DGGE sequences N1-24 are presented in Table 1. D. rotundata accession TDr 00/00403-A and -B and landrace Adaka-A and -B are clones of the same yam accessions, but that have been grown separately for several years.to NGb29aDr (KY555510, [32]), nine sequences had their nearest match (97-99% identity) to NGb36aDr (KY555522, Turaki et al., 2017), and NGbI4a/bDr, NGfK5bDr and NGfK13Dr were identi ed to be very similar (99-100% identity) to NGb54Dr (KY555549, Turaki et al., 2017), eDBV9 clone S1c5Dr (KF829963, Umber et al., 2014) and eDBV9 clone S2c7Dr (KF829987, Umber et al., 2014), respectively (Table 1).erefore, all 56 K9 sequences identi ed in this study appear to be eDBVs. A further 30 sequences from D. rotundata samples fall into monophyletic group U12 of which 25 shared 99-100% sequence identity to four known eDBV9 clone sequences described by Umber et al. (2014). e remaining ve U12 sequences were 98-99% identical to NGb59Dr (KY555555, Turaki et al., 2017). e latter is 99% identical to eDBV12 clone S2h10Dr (KF829998, Umber et al., 2014). Accordingly, all 30 U12 sequences identi ed in this study are likely to be eDBVs.e multiplex PCR-DGGE approach using the BF-GC primer in combination with the three reverse primers speci c to group K8, K9 or U12 resulted in the identi cation of only one sequence, sequence NGbN24bDr, which fell into an additional DBV species group (T13) described by Bömer et al. (2016) and was 92% identical to episomal DBV genome sequence DBRTV1-[3RT] (KX008576, Bömer et al., 2016).Colour codes showing regions or countries of origin of the samples from which sequences were obtained were added to the phylogenetic tree (Figure 4), with the aim to identify DBV species groups that appear to be speci c to yam growing countries in West Africa. No DBV sequences from monophyletic groups K2, K3, K6, K7 and K11 were detected to date in West African germplasm. In contrast, yam badnavirus sequences belonging to group DBV-D, K4, T13 and T15 were only found in yam samples from West Africa. DBV species groups K1, K5, K8, K9 and U12 appear to be globally distributed.Rapid identi cation of conserved integrated yam badnavirus sequences by DGGE is assisted by the development of a tailored DGGE yam badnavirus marker. Following the promising approach of the K8 group sequence marker using pooled clone sequences described above, ve clone sequences were selected representing the most abundant and highly conserved DBV sequences identi ed during this study and thus likely to represent integrated badnavirus sequences commonly found in yam germplasm, with a focus on D. rotundata breeding lines and landraces. Sequences NGbE3aDr, NGlE5Dr, NGbE2bDr, NGbJ1bDr and NGlJ4aDr (Table 1) were selected, their clones were pooled and run alongside 12 D. rotundata samples analysed by multiplex PCR-DGGE (Figure 5).A total of 24 bands were selected as of interest, excised and sequenced (Figure 5; Table 1), and all sequences derived showed very high nucleotide identities with previously described eDBVs (Umber et al., 2014) or sequences suggested to be of endogenous nature (Turaki et al., 2017). Sequences NGbN3Dr and NGbN4Dr, for example, con rmed the presence of eDBV9 S1e3Dr (100% identical) and eDBV12 S1a4Dr (99% identical), respectively, in the TDr 1892 accession and aligned perfectly with the corresponding sequences of the DGGE marker. Unexpectedly, sample TDr 00/00403-A and TDr 00/00403-B showed a very di erent multiplex Badna-PCR and DGGE ngerprint.is suggests the likely possibility of mislabeling of a genetically distinct clone or other reason. Genotyping of these samples is necessary to resolve this issue.is nding demonstrates the additional value of this approach in comparing the host genomes at the same time. Sequence NGbN24bDr (also described above) derived from TDr 00/00403-B and was the only identi ed species group T13 sequence. Future work might resolve these unexpected ndings.e resolution of the multiplex PCR-DGGE was further improved using puri ed Badna-PCRs as templates for the GC clamp ampli cations (Figure 3) as outlined in the Materials and Methods section.is resulted in very sharp and clear DGGE bands of similar intensities, also solving the problem of unequal loading compared with the multiplex PCR-DGGE analysis (Figures 3A,B).e DGGE marker was used for quick identi cation of endogenous badnavirus sequences in yam germplasm and highresolution melt (HRM) analysis was tested for veri cation purposes (Figure 6). Ten DGGE clone sequences corresponding to bands N1-10 (Figure 5) were selected together with the DGGE marker clone sequences and qPCR ampli cations were set up in duplicates. Precision Melt Analysis™ so ware (Biorad) was used for the HRM analysis and placed all tested qPCR products into four di erent clusters with high percent con dence values (Supplementary Table S3) and according to their DGGE band positions compared with the DGGE marker (Figure 5). Cluster four contained the species group U9 sequences (NGbJ1bDr, NGbN3Dr and NGbN7Dr) found to be 99-100% identical to eDBV9 S1e3Dr (KF829969, Umber et al., 2014). ese sequences had melting temperatures ranging from 82.7 to 82.9°C (Figure 6).e U12 sequences (NGlJ4aDr, NGbN4Dr and NGbN8Dr), 99-100% identical to eDBV12 S1a4Dr (KF829956, Umber et al., 2014), fell into HRM cluster three.ese sequences were the longest amplicons (565 bp) in the multiplex Badna-PCR and run the furthest on the DGGE, but interestingly only had the second highest melting temperatures (82.2°C for NGlJ4aDr), which can be explained by a lower GC content compared with the K9 sequences.e K8 sequences NGbE2bDr, NGbN9Dr and NGbN10Dr were in HRM cluster two, with melting temperatures ranging from 81.0 to 81.3°C. Cluster one contained all remaining K8 sequences analysed by HRM. Although DGGE marker sequences NGbE3aDr and NGlE5Dr showed distinct positions on the DGGE, their melting temperatures of 79.8°C and their GC content of 39% were identi ed to be identical. ese two sequences have only 6 bp di erence (over the length of 320 bp excluding the primers) between them and were not distinguishable by HRM. In summary, HRM proved to be a valuable tool to con rm selected DBV sequences identi ed as interesting through comparison with the DGGE marker.is study is the rst to demonstrate the application of multiplex PCR-DGGE for screening for endogenous viral elements in  Caruana, 2009), and the important role of eBSVs as a reservoir protecting viral populations from local extinction (Gayral et al., 2010). Further characterization of eDBVs in yam is likely to assist in determining their role in the yam-DBV interaction as well as assisting in unravelling the evolution of yam genomes. Access to the D. rotundata (Tamiru et al., 2017) and D. alata genomes (Bredeson et al., 2021) published in recent years will facilitate the study of eDBVs in yam, their potential allelic structures, and the dating of eDBV insertion events, as discussed by Umber et al. (2014). To date, it cannot be ruled out that infectious eDBVs exist in yam genomes and access to increasing numbers of complete annotated yam genomes will hopefully shed light into the possible impact of eDBVs on yam breeding and multiplication programmes. It is in this context where we see the strength of PCR-DGGE analysis in unravelling complex badnavirus sequences and the identi cation of candidate eDBV sequences. We hypothesize that multiplex PCR-DGGE targeting yam germplasm using DBV species-speci c primers and a tailored DGGE sequence marker is not only a powerful new tool enabling simple, cost-e ective and rapid identi cation of eDBV sequences but is also widely transferable to other virus genera having integrated copies in their plant host genomes and enables the comparison of the genetic host background at the same time. Accurate characterization of both episomal and endogenous badnavirus sequences is an essential prerequisite to enable meaningful studies on the biological and epidemiological signi cance of endogenous badnaviral elements with challenges in their di erentiation hampering research to determine the signi cance of badnavirus infections for many important plant hosts.e multiplex PCR-DGGE approach reduced the complexity of single plex DGGE ngerprints obtained previously (Turaki et al., 2017) through focusing the analysis on the most prevalent and interesting DBV species groups.e rst of three DBV species groups targeted was K8, the most diverse DBV species group and possibly the most important with the largest number of publicly deposited sequences, containing a mixture of partial RT-RNaseH sequences (Kenyon et al., 2008;Bousalem et al., 2009), episomal full-length genome sequences (Briddon et al., 1999;Bömer et al., 2016), as well eDBV sequences (Umber et al., 2014). e second and third most well described DBV species groups known to contain eDBV sequences (Umber et al., 2014) were K9 and U12. Species-speci c reverse primers targeting conserved regions were designed for both groups and tested positively both in single plex (Supplementary Figure S2) and multiplex (Figure 2  S3) following qPCR ampli cation con rming sequence identi cation based on the band position compared to the DGGE marker (Figure 2) and the sequencing results (Table 1). Melt curves of same colour indicate near identical sequences clustering together in HRM analysis.Badna-PCR products by DGGE (Figure 3) proved the signi cant improvement of the novel multiplex PCR-DGGE approach over the previously reported method (Turaki et al., 2017). e improved methodology provides PCR-DGGE ngerprints that assist in the identi cation of conserved eDBV sequences as well as novel episomal badnaviruses or other badnavirus sequence targets of interest. In this study, PCR-DGGE ngerprinting revealed signi cant di erences in the types of badnavirus sequences present across the West African yam samples tested and enabled the relatively rapid identi cation of highly conserved eDBVs present across germplasm as well as the identi cation of putative novel episomal badnaviruses (e.g., NGfK3aDr, Figure 2). e PCR-DGGE ngerprints provided con dence that sequences obtained were providing an accurate picture of the diversity present in samples.Another aim of this study was the development of a tailored DGGE yam badnavirus marker for quick identi cation of endogenous yam badnavirus sequences by DGGE, and comparison between gels. For this, a pooled marker of ve clone sequences representative of the most abundant K8, K9 and U12 sequences was generated. DGGE ngerprints from samples strongly suggest that the clones selected were representative of integrated badnavirus sequences that are widespread in West African yam germplasm. HRM analysis provided further veri cation of DGGE clone sequences (Figure 6) and was valuable for con rmation and grouping of selected clones with DGGE. HRM analysis could be used for clustering diversity purposes potentially replacing the need for sequencing DGGE clones.Phylogenetic analysis the 116 partial RT-RNaseH generated sequences highlighted many badnavirus sequences that were either directly clustering with previously described eDBVs or were found to be highly conserved across a variety of yam plants tested. is suggests that it may be possible to correlate the episomal or endogenous nature of a DBV sequence to its phylogenetic position, as di erent (putative) eDBV sequences form well-de ned phylogenetic sub-groups. Out of the 116 partial RT-RNaseH sequences, 29 were identi ed to belong to species group K8, of which 23 sequences were placed in two very conserved sub-groups (Figure 4) within group K8. e rst of the two sub-groups was described as 8b by Umber et al. (2014), containing eDBV8 clone S2h9Dr and NGb23bDr represented in the DGGE marker (Figure 6), whereas the second sub-group around the DGGE marker sequence NGb58Dr was previously suggested to only contain eDBVs (Turaki et al., 2017), hence indicating a strong correlation between the phylogenetic position of these sequences and their suggested endogenous nature.e unique phylogenetic positions of the remaining K8 sequences, all derived from eld survey samples, support their potentially episomal nature. All 56 DBV sequences belonging to species group K9 de ned by Kenyon et al. (2008), clustered into two very conserved sub-groups (Figure 4). e rst of the two sub-groups was described as 9b by Umber et al. (2014), containing eDBV9 clone S1e3Dr, also part of the DGGE marker (Figure 6). e second sub-group contains sequences NGb29aDr and NGb36aDr previously detected by DGGE (Turaki et al., 2017), and is referred to as 9a by Umber et al. (2014). Accordingly, all K9 sequences detected in this study are expected to be of endogenous nature based on their phylogenetic positions. Similarly, all 30 sequences falling into species group U12 de ned by Umber et al. (2014) are likely to be of endogenous nature, as they cluster into two highly conserved sub-groups and share high nucleotide similarities with previously described eDBV12 sequences.Previous studies on yam showed that eDBV sequences have undergone rearrangement resulting in mosaic structures that are typical of endogenous badnavirus elements (Umber et al., 2014).e presence of putative eDBV sequences, potentially as multiple copies, in so many of the yam lines tested (in particular D. rotundata germplasm), suggests that these eDBVs may confer protection from infection by related viruses via RNA interference as previously hypothesized for other endogenous viral elements (Harper et al., 2002;Staginnus and Richert-Pöggeler, 2006;Noreen et al., 2007;Lyttle et al., 2011;Geering et al., 2014;Umber et al., 2017). Conversely, previous research on banana demonstrated that host genomes can contain a diverse array of endogenous badnaviruses (Geering et al., 2005), of which some can undergo recombination, initiating infection de novo upon activation triggered by tissue culture propagation (Ndowora et al., 1999). Further research into eBSVs provided evidence that the proliferation stage of the micropropagation procedure activates the eBSV expression and episomal replication (Dallot et al., 2001). Wounding and various abiotic stress factors are also reported to activate chromosomal virus sequences (Lockhart et al., 2000;Richert-Pöggeler et al., 2003) and probably connected to weakened epigenetic control under all these conditions (Staginnus and Richert-Pöggeler, 2006). Biotechnological tools like tissue culture become ever more important and micropropagation has the potential to improve the slow vegetative propagation ratio of yam. Hence, the study of eDBVs and the screening of yam germplasm for these sequences is of paramount importance when placing Dioscorea species in tissue culture or under forms of abiotic or genomic stress (Bömer et al., 2019).Tissue culture currently forms an essential part of seed yam multiplication systems and exchange of yam germplasm (Aighewi et al., 2015;Aidoo et al., 2021).e multiplex PCR-DGGE technique described will assist generating more detailed knowledge of badnavirus sequences in yam and enable the risk of a potential activation of replication-competent eDBVs to be assessed. Such knowledge will assist decision-making in national distribution of planting material as well as international exchange of yam germplasm focused on addressing improved food security for this important staple crop.e datasets presented in this study can be found in online repositories. e names of the repository/repositories and accession number(s) can be found in the article/Supplementary Material."}

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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"5e5f124dada2c761591bf6f6a252bc92","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/95149473-46e2-4946-94bf-bcbdcc0603b6/retrieve","id":"1576459152"},"keywords":["Front cover: G.Smith/CIAT","N.Palmer/CIAT","N.Palmer/CIAT","G.Smith/CIAT","S.Malyon/CIAT. Back cover: S.Malyon/CIAT. Original infographics by Macaroni Bros"],"sieverID":"e3fadcbc-6ac1-4c3e-8c67-af93e8926879","content":"This booklet has a Creative Commons License. You are free to copy and redistribute the material in any medium or format, provided credit is given to CCAFS.\"Vicious alliances of stubbornly high poverty, hunger, undernutrition and inequality pervade the entire developing world. The situation of the world's poor and hungry is now being exacerbated by increasing vulnerability to climate extremes and associated food price spikes. Paradoxically, more than 50 percent of these deprived people are smallholder women and men farmers. Towards 2030, smallholders will only further swell the ranks of the poor and hungry under the intensifying climatic volatilities. Research for development must prioritise investments in helping poor agriculture-dependent people whose livelihoods are most at risk. The focus should be on accelerated, sustained, inclusive, prowomen, pro-poor and pro-youth development.\" -Ram Badan Singh, Chancellor, Central Agricultural University and Past President, National Academy of Agricultural Sciences, India \"Scaling up climate-smart agriculture requires that we exploit its integrative power. We need to make sure that all the individual components are working together across scales -from national strategies devised within the framework of an international agreement to local processes for choosing technologies from ample menus of options. Encompassing resilient varieties, improved soil and water management, timely agro-climatic information, and new insights on sustainable intensification, these options must be made widely available to public, private, and civil society organizations.\" Weather variability makes it difficult for farmers to know what varieties to plant and when to plant them. We need to get climate information and advice into the hands of farmers, to help them make informed decisions on their farms.In Global policies and processes need to provide incentives for climate-smart agriculture. CCAFS gratefully acknowledges support from its funders:"}

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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"0418be76975615fa08bb9858b6f20f3a","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/3a8373f2-3a97-49fd-a3c0-03e4a174bf0c/retrieve","id":"1865587904"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"ea771f36-cced-415c-9b91-c28c23ab842c","content":"Southern Africa is particularly vulnerable to climate change because smallholder subsistence farmers, a majority in the region, rely almost entirely on rain-fed farming (Nhemachena et al. 2010). Weather patterns such as droughts, floods and erratic rainfall impact rural households' food security, nutrition and income, which is significant in a region where the majority of the population are poor and have the lowest adaptive capacity (Beegle et al. 2016;Nhemachena and Hassan 2007). Amongst the most vulnerable are smallholders, especially female farmers who have the least capacity to adapt, and are thus disproportionally impacted by climate change compared to their male counterparts (UN 2009). This high vulnerability to climate change causes food insecurity (recurrent swings between food scarcity and surplus) for up to six million people annually. For example, in the 2015-2016 agricultural season, countries including Lesotho, Malawi, Swaziland, Botswana, Namibia and Zimbabwe declared national emergencies because of drought (WFP 2016). There is an increasing call from farmers, development practitioners and policymakers to recognise drought as the \"new normal\" in the region, and to respond appropriately (Ajayi et al. 2007a, b). Part of the response is to shift from \"relief efforts\" (giving food aid to farmers after crop failure) to \"production relief\"--helping farmers to adopt practices that make them resilient, so they can continue to produce food despite climate change uncertainties.Innovative partnerships are increasingly recognised as essential for addressing the negative consequences of climate change, however there is limited literature about the practicalities of putting into use innovative partnerships to scale up climateresilient agricultural solutions in southern Africa (Surminski and Leck 2016;The Technical Centre for Agricultural and Rural Co-operation (CTA (ACP-EU)), Wageningen, The Netherlands e-mail: [email protected] Andersson et al. 2016;Fünfgeld 2015;UNEP 2015;Forsyth 2010). The objective of this chapter is therefore to describe the processes and experiences of forming country project teams, partnership models and approaches to reach farmers in Zimbabwe, Zambia and Malawi. This will improve understanding of methods of setting up sustainable partnerships that exist beyond donor-funded projects.The specific climate-smart solutions for scaling up were selected over multiple phases, in consultation with farmers and a range of stakeholders including development workers and researchers. The process began with a call for proposals for climate-smart solutions, followed by an evaluation process that involved many experts from Europe, African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) countries (CTA 2015). The experts were six individuals from Europe, Africa and the Caribbean; an agroecologist, a climate change scientist, an international agricultural development specialist, and representatives from the farmers' organisation and the Forum for Agricultural Research in Africa (FARA). The top 15 solutions were documented and published to assess their respective development, adoption, impact and potential for being scaled up in other regions, after which four climate-smart solutions were selected (CTA 2015). The project adopts a \"bundled solution\" approach rather than a single technology. The four climate-smart solutions being scaled up are:(i) Drought tolerant maize seeds (ii) Information and communication technology (ICT) enabled weather information services for smallholder farmers (iii) Weather based index insurance for smallholder farmers (iv) Diversified options for livestock farmersThe scaling up project is currently implemented in three countries: Zimbabwe, Zambia and Malawi (Table 25.1).The partnership in Zimbabwe is bilateral, with the two implementing partners, the Zimbabwe Farmers Union (ZFU) and Econet Wireless, sharing common economic interests and equal responsibility. Whilst ZFU acts as the aggregator to reach farmers, Econet Wireless provides a platform to digitally register farmers and disseminate information to them. Their shared interest (i.e., reaching farmers with information) and mutually agreed delineation of responsibility (including management of project resources) allows autonomy and ease of operations when carrying out specialised project activities. Additionally, ZFU and Econet Wireless have an equal share of decisive power in project planning, programming and implementation, facilitated by regular project meetings, a joint project implementation plan, and a signed Memorandum of Understanding (MoU). This also supports the management and dissemination of profit from farmer subscriptions to the information services provided. The partners also share an online portal containing project statistics, including farmers' subscriptions to the insurance product, billings and payments. This second-generation partnership--the two partners have previously worked together in partnership--in Zimbabwe was established in 2015 with the aim of providing farmers with highly valuable services at a minimum cost through ICT. The services, collectively referred to as the original ZFU EcoFarmer Combo, included: crop advice, weather index insurance, payment for ZFU membership and funeral cover. This original combo reached approximately 39,000 farmers by mid 2017.The current ZFU EcoFarmer Combo costs 1 USD per month and includes all the services in the original version, as well as weather information in real time, toll-free phone information on drought tolerant seeds, and advice for crop and livestock farmers (via the Dial-a-Mudhumeni phone in extension service). With CTA support (especially regarding real-time weather data and increasing reach to farmers) this current combo has reached approximately 10,000 farmers in the first 2 months of mobilization. The lead farmer is the main contact for the project and partner organisations. He/she is selected from his/her peers in the community based on educational background as well as standing in the community and is trained (as an entry point to the community). Lead farmers are given training materials, a push bike and a schedule to train or disseminate the information to other farmers in their respective localityThe partnership is mutually beneficial. Organisational theorists have demonstrated that member organisations are most likely to survive if they are able to mobilise resources and demonstrate legitimacy, both of which ZFU achieved through this partnership (Walker and McCarthy 2010). As a member-based organisation which farmers subscribe to, ZFU relies on membership fees for continuity. Before the EcoFarmer Combo was introduced, these were collected manually (i.e., at the district level by ZFU employees and then remitted to ZFU central via a bank deposit), a process that was laborious, inefficient and ineffective. The EcoFarmer Combo package includes the ZFU membership fee and is bought by mobile payment, thereby resolving the issue for ZFU. The partnership also enables ZFU to demonstrate relevance to members through the delivery of tangible, valuable services at a relatively low cost, and reduces cost thanks to their discounted telecom rates from Econet Wireless.The key benefit for Econet Wireless is that working with ZFU opens up a new clientele of smallholder farmers to which they can market their services, including their insurance products and ICT subscription services. Both organisations profit financially from farmer subscriptions to the EcoFarmer Combo, which ensures that ZFU can exist and that Econet Wireless achieve their commercial goals, both of which are key outcomes for the continuity for the partnership.The public sector (specifically the Ministry of Agriculture) has also helped facilitate the scale-up of CSA innovations in Zimbabwe. Specifically, farmer recruitment to the ZFU EcoFarmer Combo within Municipal Wards (the smallest political demarcation of a district in Zimbabwe) is supported by local government extension staff. By providing skeptical members of the general public and local (political) leaders with project information, they have played a vital role in validating and legitimising the work of the partnership.In Zambia a multilateral partnership comprised of Zambia Open University, Musika Development Initiatives (Musika) and the Professional Insurance Company of Zambia (PICZ) works in collaboration with officers and field workers from the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock to reduce the vulnerability of smallholder farmers. Specifically, the partnership is working to increase farmers' resilience through diversified, adaptive, climate resilient production systems. Each partner has equal influence in the implementation of the project, achieved through joint regular meetings, field implementation and monitoring. Zambia Open University, by leading the consortium, has ensured government engagement in the project.Musika previously implemented the DFID-funded project Vuna to promote different aspects of CSA through the creation of a supportive policy environment. They trained farmers and agro-dealers to understand changes in the agricultural landscape, the benefits of using climate smart practices, and the use of pesticides, herbicides and post-harvest technology in an altered environment.Musika has capitalised on this previous work in the current partnership by using agro-dealer networks already established and previously trained in CSA.To ensure sustainability beyond the life of the project, each partner in the Zambian consortium is responsible for the areas in which they specialise. For example, PICZ developed the insurance product for farmers, and provide the digital platform for farmer registration. Musika is responsible for farmer mobilization (sensitising farmers so that they can register for the program) using existing staff and local structures, while Zambia Open University, apart from coordinating and leading project implementation, manages the research components of the project. As in the Zimbabwe partnership described above, there are multiple benefits to this approach for each partner; PICZ acquires new clientele in the form of smallholder farmers, Musika Initiatives (which uses a market facilitation approach to link farmers with agribusinesses) mobilises new farmers for their market linkages work. Zambia Open University benefits from capacity building for their students, field project management experience and research outcomes.The consortium aims to reach 60,000 farmers in 2 years. Between 2013 and 2015, up to 75,000 smallholders in Zambia were introduced to weather index insurance. In early 2017, the Zambian Government announced a policy that made the purchase of weather index insurance compulsory for all farmers benefiting from the Farmer Input Support Programme (FISP). 1 Approximately 1.2 million farmers will subscribe to weather index insurance as a result of this policy. The Zambian Government has approached the project consortium to support the implementation of the new policy, and has adopted their training materials on CSA and weather index insurance for use by all front line government extension staff and farmers. Additionally, nationwide efforts to scale up weather index insurance will draw lessons from the consortium target areas. Government buy in, although not a panacea to low adoption and limited access to CSA innovations by smallholders, is of paramount importance in the scale up of climate resilient solutions. Furthermore, the public sector in Zambia plays a key role in the project via the National Agricultural Information Services (NAIS) -the source of all technical agronomic information that the consortium in Zambia intends to disseminate to farmers via mobile phone services during the cropping season. This creates synergies between on-going public services and upcoming private/academic initiatives, such as CTA's work to scale up CRS under discussion. Most importantly, the use of government-approved technical information ensures that farmers do not get conflicting extension service messages from different service providers.Project implementation in Malawi began in the last quarter of 2017. The processes that have thus far taken place have drawn lessons from the Zambian and Zimbabwean consortiums, as summarised in Table 25.2. As the partnership unfolds, there are some insights for consideration in Malawi listed below, particularly for the National Smallholder Farmers Association of Malawi (NASFAM):(i) Beyond moral persuasion, the opportunity for continuous scaling up of CSA on a sustained basis increases when there are stakeholders who have well defined economic interests and a sound business case to engage in scaling up efforts (i.e., the private sector). (ii) Strong, vibrant partnerships require transparency, trust, shared influence and decision-making, mutual benefits (economic interests), commitment, recognition of partners' specialised roles and profit sharing. (iii) Champions are needed to rally the private sector to develop market-driven climate resilient solutions; the government to create an enabling environment; and the farming community to raise awareness of CSA benefits. Strategically placed individuals or institutions in the climate change/agriculture/food security nexus are best suited to act as champions. (iv) Using field based agricultural extension staff helps the case for scaling up climate resilient solutions. For this to be effective there is need to build capacity of the field staff in key technical areas related to CSA. In the case of NASFAM, this entails building the capacity of Association Field Officers in weather index insurance, drought tolerant seeds and ICT-enabled weather information services.The identification of the \"best partnership type\" for scaling up CSA in southern Africa is not yet conclusive, however some preliminary lessons for successful partnerships can be drawn: they must be inclusive and participatory, have clear mutual benefits, and ensure transparency in project operations. Other enabling factors needed for success include:1. Private sector involvement: Bringing non-state actors on board effectively improves the chances of successfully scaling up proven innovations (such as CSA) in a sustainable manner. In Zimbabwe, farmers outside the ZFU project have access to similar innovations as the ZFU-EcoFarmer combo because Econet Wireless--as a private commercial entity--is working nationally. In Zambia, PICZ facilitates access to weather index insurance for farmers in the CTA project areas and nationally. Both the Zimbabwe and Zambia case studies show that bundled climate resilient solutions will be scaled up by the private sector provided they have commercial viability. 2. Strong and charismatic institutional leadership: this is key to galvanise others into action, and leverage financial incentives. 3. Financial incentives: key for private sector buy in and investment. 4. Make use of existing value chain innovations: partnerships must build on existing and successful mechanisms and processes (e.g., second-generation partnerships in Zimbabwe, engagement of Musika Development Initiatives after their successful implementation of the Vuna project in Zambia).Beyond the lessons described here, further research is needed to critically assess the challenges associated with scaling up single solutions in relation to bundled solutions, and their impacts on the livelihoods of the poor in a changing climate. Additional research is also needed to better understand how partnerships can be flexible and adaptable in light of the dynamic nature of climate change, and to determine how to better provide clear evidence of a business case for the private sector to invest in scaling up climate resilient solutions. Additionally, action research is needed to monitor and evaluate the extent to which partnerships, such as those explored in this chapter, deliver results and achieve impact."}

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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"37cfb0534639b5eea3bbb505de9d61ed","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://repository.cimmyt.org/server/api/core/bitstreams/8f97e448-6f87-43a2-aa6a-b8ac8c82c057/content","id":"1850834210"},"keywords":["nutrition","hidden hunger","multifunctional landscapes","ecosystem services","structural equation modeling"],"sieverID":"67cf30ae-f863-46cf-8ffc-72d5aacdb5ea","content":"A diverse diet is important to address micronutrient deficiencies and other forms of malnutrition, one of the greatest challenges of today's food systems. In tropical countries, several studies have found a positive association between forest cover and dietary diversity, although the actual mechanisms of this has yet to be identified and quantified. Three complementary pathways may link forests to diets: a direct pathway (e.g., consumption of forest food), an income pathway (income from forest products used to purchase food from markets), and an agroecological pathway (forests and trees sustaining farm production). We used piece-wise structural equation modeling to test and quantify the relative contribution of these three pathways for households in seven tropical landscapes in Bangladesh,An estimated two billion people are currently affected by \"hidden hunger, \" i.e., micronutrient deficiencies (Muthayya et al., 2013;IFPRI, 2014;HLPE, 2017). Poor quality diet is now one of the leading risk factors for mortality globally (Afshin et al., 2019;Willett et al., 2019) and nutrition-related chronic diseases are increasingly a problem in developing counties (IFPRI, 2014). Poor diet quality contributes to both micronutrient deficiency and chronic nutrition-related diseases. Dietary diversity is increasingly accepted as a good measure of diet quality (Foote et al., 2004;Steyn et al., 2006;Kennedy et al., 2010). Dietary diversity may increase with improved market access (Sibhatu et al., 2015). However, protein-rich and micronutrient-rich food can be several times more expensive than staple food, particularly in low-income countries (Headey and Masters, 2019). In such countries, with largely rural population, dietary diversity may thus be improved through diversity in farm production (Jones et al., 2014;Powell et al., 2015;Jones, 2017).Several studies have also found more diverse and nutritious diets consumed by people living in or near areas with greater tree cover (Dounias and Froment, 2006;Powell et al., 2011;Johnson et al., 2013;Ickowitz et al., 2014;Baudron et al., 2017;Galway et al., 2018;Rasolofoson et al., 2018). Three main complementary pathways may link forest cover to dietary diversity: (1) a \"direct pathway, \" (2) an \"income pathway, \" and (3) an \"agroecological pathway\" (Figure 1). (1) Forests may contribute directly to people's diets through the harvest of bushmeat, wild fruits, wild vegetables, and other forest-sourced foods (Hladik et al., 1990;Fa et al., 2003;Vinceti et al., 2008;Nasi et al., 2011;Termote et al., 2011;Powell et al., 2015;Rowland et al., 2017).(2) The sale of non-timber forest products, and timber to a lesser extent, may contribute to people's income (Williams, 1998;Beck and Nesmith, 2001;Kaschula et al., 2005;Pfund et al., 2011;Angelsen et al., 2014), potentially leading to the purchase of a diversity of food items from markets. (3) Finally, forests and trees may support diverse crop and livestock production through an array of ecosystem services (Reed et al., 2017) such as maintenance of soil fertility and water regulation (Young, 1989;Sanchez et al., 1997;Ong et al., 2000), pollination (Garibaldi et al., 2011), pest control (Dix et al., 1995), and regulation of micro-and regional climate (Zheng and Eltahir, 1998;Fu, 2003;Shiferaw Sida et al., 2018). Forests may also be grazed and sustain livestock production (Baudron et al., 2017). An additional aspect of this agroecological pathway may come from the availability of fuelwood from forests allowing the production of nutritious crops, which, on average, require a long cooking time, e.g., pulses (Wan et al., 2011;Remans et al., 2012). The availability of fuelwood from forests may also result in the use of more crop residues and livestock dung as soil amendment rather than as fuel, with positive impact in soil fertility and crop diversity (Baudron et al., 2017).While there is a growing body of evidence in support of each of the above pathways, their relative importance to each other remains poorly understood. This is the first study to our knowledge to attempt to quantify the relative contribution of different pathways. The objective of this study was to test and quantify the various pathways linking forest cover to dietary diversity-direct, income, and agroecologicalusing piece-wise structural equation modeling spanning seven contrasting tropical landscapes with a novel combination of household and forest cover information. Due to the importance of these food groups for adequate nutrition and because they are most commonly missing in households with low dietary diversity, the linkages between forest cover and the consumption of (1) fruit, (2) vegetable, and (3) meat (and other animal products, excluding dairy products) were also tested.We use previously published and publicly available household survey data from the Agrarian Change Project implemented by the Center for International Forest Research (CIFOR) 1 . This dataset was collected through a standardized questionnaire that addressed household composition, dietary diversity, crop and livestock management, and income. Seven tropical landscapes spanning three continents were selected for the study: (1) the Bosawas Biosphere Reserve in Nicaragua, (2) Cassou District in Burkina Faso, (3) Nguti District in Cameroon, (4) Arsi Negele in Ethiopia, (5) Nyimba District in Zambia, (6) Chittagong Hill Tracts Region in Bangladesh, and (7) Kapuas Hulu Region in Indonesia (Figure 2). While we will refer to these locations by their respective country names in the rest of the paper, it should be noted they are not representative of national-level conditions. Although each landscape is very different in some respects (e.g., differing forest types, levels of biodiversity, agricultural practices, market influence, and forest dependency; Table 1), the main characteristic comparable across all seven landscapes is that they exemplify clear gradients of agricultural expansion and intensification across the forest transition (Deakin et al., 2016;Sunderland et al., 2017). In this regard, they are representative of similar sites throughout the tropics exhibiting rapid rural change.The data were collected between December 2014 and August 2016 from 275 farming households in Bangladesh,281 in Burkina Faso,242 in Cameroon,219 in Ethiopia,239 in Indonesia,253 in Nicaragua,and 274 in Zambia, for a total of 1783 households (see survey questionnaire in Supplementary Material). In each landscape, households were selected using a stratified random sampling scheme across a gradient of forest-agricultural intensification (see Sunderland et al., 2017). As such, approximately a third of households were distributed in each of three zones: relatively high tree cover/low level of agricultural intensification; relatively low tree cover/high agricultural intensification; and intermediate tree cover/agricultural intensification. While differences between zones were not the focus of this analysis, it is possible that this stratified sampling introduced confounding social, cultural, or economic factors our analysis was not completely able to control for (such as differences in diet between social-ecological  systems of different ethnic groups) (see Sunderland et al., 2017 for more description).The survey data contained information on presence or absence of a home garden, total area farmed (as estimated by the head of the household, and referred to as \"farm area\" in the rest of the paper), numbers of different livestock species, ownership of various assets, main sources of income, and consumption or not of 11 food groups in the household during the 24 h that preceded the survey: (1) cereals, grains, and cereal products; (2) roots and tubers; (3) pulses and nuts; (4) vegetables; (5) meat and animal products; (6) fruits; (7) milk and milk products; (8) oils and fats; (9) sugar, sugar products, and honey; (10) spices and condiments; and (11) snacks and processed foods. These 11 food groups were used to construct dietary diversity scores following the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations' Household Dietary Diversity Score (HDDS; Kennedy et al., 2010), modified to match food groups used in another research project (the Sentinel Landscapes Project, https://www1. cifor.org/sentinel-landscapes/home.html). The 24-h household dietary diversity score is referred to as \"dietary diversity\" in the rest of the paper, and the consumption of fruits, vegetables, and meat and other animal products, excluding dairy products, in the 24-h preceding the interview are referred to  Hansen et al., 2013) that became available near the end of the project. Thus, rather than create our own forest cover maps in Indonesia, we used forest cover (as defined by Hansen et al., 2013) and further conducted a supervised classification within the forested areas to distinguish several types of plantations (rubber and oil palm) that we then reclassified as agriculture. Classification accuracy was assessed with a combination of field verification and high-resolution imagery (e.g., RapidEye, Google Earth) which aimed to use a minimum of 100-200 verification points at each site, as available. The proportion of forest within a 2-km radius of each household (termed \"forest cover\" here) was then determined using R package raster. A 2-km buffer approximated the average travel distance to forests at most sites, as determined in scoping exercises and key informant interviews conducted at all sites.For each farming household, livestock numbers reported in the survey were converted into Tropical Livestock Units (TLU).Following the method of Jahnke (1982), sheep and goats were assumed to be equivalent to 0.1 TLU; donkeys, 0.5 TLU; and all types of cattle, 0.7 TLU.In addition, each farm was qualified as integrated to the cash economy or not based on their reported sources of income. If the household reported wage labor, salary, a trade, or any form of business, they were classified as market integrated, while other households were classified as not market integrated.Approximately 45% of households were classified as market integrated by this method.To test and quantify the various pathways linking forest and dietary diversity, fruit, vegetable, and meat consumptions, structural equation models were used. Structural equation modeling has been used extensively in psychology, and increasingly in natural science. Structural equation modeling can be defined as \"the use of two or more structural [causeeffect] equations to model multivariate relationships\" (Grace, 2006). As such, structural equation models are generally represented as more or less complex networks of relationships. Structural equation modeling is related to regression, principal components analysis, and path analysis (McCune and Grace, 2002). However, a major difference is that structural equation modeling provides a means to evaluate the structure of the model (pattern of relationships among variables) as well as the model parameters using observed data (McCune and Grace, 2002). By model structure, we mean the correlations, direct, and indirect relationships among variables. Therefore, structural equation modeling can be used to test construct models (i.e., hypothesized models) and quantify relationships between model components (Grace, 2006). Although not used in this study, structural equation modeling also allows for the inclusion of unobserved (latent) variables as theoretical variables reflected by several indirect observed (manifest) variables (Grace et al., 2010).A construct model was developed to test the three pathways linking forest cover to dietary diversity (Figure 3). Dietary diversity was hypothesized to be influenced by (1) forest cover (e.g., Ickowitz et al., 2014), representing the direct pathway described in the introduction; by (2) farm production (e.g., Jones, 2017), proxied by farm area, presence/absence of a home garden, and livestock ownership; and by (3) improved market access (e.g., Sibhatu et al., 2015), proxied by integration to the cash economy. Relationships between forest cover and farm area, between forest cover and presence/absence of a home garden, and between forest cover and livestock ownership were included to represent different ways in which forests can support farm production (e.g., Reed et al., 2017), i.e., different dimensions of the agroecological pathway described in the introduction. As crop residues and weeds often represent a major part of the diet of livestock in tropical countries (e.g., Baudron et al., 2014), a relationship between farm area and livestock ownership was included. Similarly, manure produced by livestock being often concentrated in home gardens (e.g., Baudron et al., 2017), a relationship between livestock ownership and presence/absence of a home garden was also included. In addition, a relationship between farm area and presence/absence of a home garden was included to test possible correlation between these two dimensions of crop production. Finally, a relationship between forest cover and integration to the cash economy was included to represent the possible sale of forest product (e.g., Angelsen et al., 2014), i.e., income pathway described in the introduction, and relationships between farm area, presence/absence of a home garden, livestock ownership, and integration to the cash presence/absence of a home garden, LIVT: livestock ownership (TLU), CASH: integration to the cash economy (yes/no). See text for detailed description of the interactions included in this model. The same model was used with the other dietary measures: consumption of fruits in the past 24 h (yes/no), consumption of vegetables in the past 24 h, and consumption of meat and other animal product (excluding milk and milk products) in the past 24 h. economy, to represent the possible sale of farm products. A continuous variable was used for livestock ownership in the models representing Burkina Faso and Ethiopia, but a binary variable (presence/absence) for the models representing the five other landscapes, as a large fraction of households in these sites did not own any livestock. The same model was used for fruit consumption, vegetable consumption, and meat consumption, giving a total of 28 models (four per country). Global goodness of fit of the models was assessed by tests of directional separation. We ensured through these tests that all interactions were included, e.g., with Fisher's C of 0 and P-value of 1.Structural equation modeling assumes that all variables are derived from a normal distribution, while dietary diversity can be assumed to follow a Poisson distribution, and fruit, vegetable, and meat consumption, presence/absence of a home garden, integration to the cash economy, and livestock ownership in five of the seven countries can be assumed to follow a binomial distribution. In response, piece-wise structural equation modeling is recommended, whereby paths are estimated in individual models and then pieced together to construct the causal model (www.jonlefcheck.net/ 2014/07/06/piecewise-structural-equation-modeling-inecological-research). This was performed using the R package piecewiseSEM.Forest and non-forest were distinguished with quite high accuracy, with a few clear exceptions, as simplified land cover classifications with few classes (such as the ones we used) tend to be quite accurate. Overall accuracies exceeded 90-95% at most sites and at a few locations approached or surpassed only 80%. In Indonesia, the rubber and oil palm plantations were accurately discriminated from other forest cover to 93% accuracy. Locations with lower overall map accuracy were evident, as follows. In Bangladesh, teak plantations could not be discriminated from surrounding forests as they were spectrally similar and mostly quite small (<1 ha). In addition, this landscape also encompassed narrow, small linear nonforest features that were not well captured using 30-m imagery. Dry tropical forests, such as in Burkina Faso, achieved overall accuracy of only 86% largely driven by errors of omission whereby scattered trees as well as small forest patches with very sparse canopy cover were not detected by the 30-m Landsat imagery.All piece-wise structural models fitted the observed data well, with a Fisher's C-value of 0 and a P-value of 1.The seven landscapes were found to be characterized by varying levels of forest cover, with Bangladesh having the highest average proportion of forest surrounding (2 km radius) the studied farming households (88.1%) and Ethiopia having the lowest (12.0%) (Table 2). The variability in forest cover-measured by standard deviations in Table 2-was the greatest in Indonesia and the lowest in Burkina Faso.The largest farms were found in Nicaragua (average of 10.97 ha) and the smallest ones were found in Ethiopia (average of 1.01 ha). About ¾ or more of the farms were cultivating a home garden in Cameroon, Ethiopia, Indonesia, and Nicaragua. The lowest proportion of farms cultivating a home garden was found in Zambia (11.3%). The largest livestock herds were found in Burkina Faso (average of 6.18 TLU) and the smallest ones were found in Indonesia (average of 0.75 TLU). The majority of households were considered integrated to the cash economy in Bangladesh and Indonesia. The lowest proportion of households considered integrated to the market was found in Ethiopia (15.1%).The highest dietary diversity was recorded in Nicaragua (average score of 8.74) and lowest in Burkina Faso (average score of 6.14). The largest variability in dietary diversity was found in Zambia and the lowest was found in Indonesia. The majority of households consumed fruits in the 24 h that preceded the interview in Burkina Faso, Ethiopia, Nicaragua, and Zambia. Fruit consumption was the lowest in Bangladesh and Cameroon (around 40% in both landscapes). More than 90% of households consumed vegetables in the 24 h that preceded the interview in Bangladesh, Ethiopia, Indonesia, and Zambia. The lowest proportion of households consuming vegetables (but still high) was found in Nicaragua (76.6%). In all the landscapes except Ethiopia, about 80% of households or more consumed meat in the 24 h that preceded the interview (the percentage was 47.3% in Ethiopia).The results of this piece-wise structural equation modeling identified a direct relationship or pathway between forest cover and dietary diversity in two landscapes: Bangladesh and Ethiopia (Figure 4 and Table 3). This appeared to be linked, at least in part, to meat consumption in Bangladesh, and meat and fruit consumption in Ethiopia (Table 3). In addition, forest was found to support fruit consumption in Cameroon and meat consumption in Zambia (although no association between forest cover and dietary diversity was found for these landscapes; Table 3). No link between forest cover and vegetable consumption was found in any of the landscapes investigated (Table 3). This lack of relationship could be in part due to the high percentage of households that had consumed vegetables during the 24 h preceding the interview (Table 2).Forest cover was positively associated with fruit consumption in Cameroon and Ethiopia. It was the only statistically significant predictor of fruit consumption in Cameroon and the predictor with the largest value in Ethiopia, thus underscoring the importance of forest access in these two landscapes (Table 3). Wild fruits are important food items in the diet of many rural communities around the world. These wild fruits are partly harvested not only from forests but also from trees retained on farmland (Campbell, 1987;Herzog et al., 1994;Kalenga Saka and Msonthi, 1994). Similar to wild fruits, wild vegetables are also often harvested from the farmland, as part of a \"hidden harvest\" (Scoones et al., 1992;Powell et al., 2015). Therefore, part of the positive associations found between farm area and fruit consumption in Cameroon (Table 3) and between farm area and vegetable consumption in Burkina Faso and Nicaragua (Table 3) may be explained by wild fruits and wild vegetables harvested from the farmland, not only from cultivated sources. Part of the positive association between farm area and meat consumption in Indonesia and Nicaragua may also be explained by wild animals that are often hunted from the farmland and not exclusively from forests (e.g., Smith, 2005). Similarly, the positive association found between livestock ownership and fruit consumption in Bangladesh and Nicaragua may be explained by collection of wild fruits during herding.Forest cover was positively associated with meat consumption in three out of the seven landscapes considered (Bangladesh, Ethiopia, and Zambia; Table 3). Forest cover was the only statistically significant predictor of meat consumption in Bangladesh and Zambia, and the predictor with the largest value in Ethiopia, pointing to the importance of bushmeat and wild fish in many of the sites considered (Table 3). Nasi et al. (2011) estimated the total quantity of bushmeat extracted annually from tropical forests of Africa and South America to six million tons. Many of the African countries considered in their assessment do not produce enough non-bushmeat animal products to meet the requirements of their growing populations (Fa et al., 2003). Indeed, in large parts of tropical Africa, livestock production is limited by diseases such as trypanosomiasis (Kristjanson et al., 1999). Bushmeat and wild fish thus represent a critical source of quality proteins and readily available micronutrients to millions in and around tropical forests. In Northeastern Madagascar, it was established that the loss of bushmeat in local diets would increase the incidence of anemia in children by 30% (Golden et al., 2011).Securing access to forest food where it is of critical importance to local diets may be challenged when these forests are protected (Pimbert and Pretty, 2013), which is the case in Cameroon, Indonesia, and Zambia in particular. Forest protection, and enforcement of stricter conservation legislations, can limit access to critical resources that contribute to diets and there is often a trade-off between biodiversity conservation and dietary diversity (Hutton et al., 2005;Sylvester et al., 2016). The issue is particularly sensitive for bushmeat, as bushmeat harvesting for subsistence generally coexists with-often very lucrativebushmeat trades and may affect endangered species (Maxwell et al., 2016). Commercial hunting for meat is seldom sustainable (Robinson and Bennett, 2004;Maxwell et al., 2016), but see Cowlishaw et al. (2005).In addition to the positive associations between forest cover and diet quality reported above, negative associations were also uncovered. Forest cover was found to be negatively related to dietary diversity and fruit consumption in Zambia, and to fruit consumption in Indonesia (Figure 4 and Table 3). In some circumstances, forest people may be vulnerable to seasonal gaps in some or all food groups, if wild food availability or access fluctuates seasonally (De Souza, 2006;Gabriele and Schettino, 2007). There may also be cultural differences and different dietary habits between populations living in the more forested and in the less forested parts of the same study site. Cultural differences may explain why we see positive relationships with forests in some sites and negative or neutral ones in others. For example, the communities in the Nicaragua site were non-Indigenous and lack the knowledge and tradition of wild food use (fruits, vegetables, bushmeat, etc.) seen in Indigenous populations of central America (Sylvester et al., 2016), helping to explain the lack of significant relationship between forest cover and any of the indicators of diet quality found in the Nicaragua site. The fact that forest cover covaried with ethnicity in some sites may also help to explain some of the weak and variable relationships seen (cultural variation in diet can be very large and could account for a lot of variation in our dietary variables). For example, in the Indonesian site, the communities with most forest cover were largely Dayak while the less forested communities were a mix of ethnic groups, including many immigrants from Java who have very different dietary traditions to the Dayak (Dove, 1999).A positive association between integration to the cash economy and diet quality was found in three landscapes: Burkina Faso, Ethiopia, and Zambia. Integration to the cash economy was positively related to vegetable and meat consumptions in Burkina Faso, to fruit consumption in Ethiopia, and to dietary diversity and fruit consumption in Zambia (Table 3). These results concur with past findings that highlight the fact that improved market access tends to be associated with improved dietary diversity (Jones, 2017).However, a positive association between forest cover and integration to the cash economy as well as a positive association between integration to the cash economy and diet qualityi.e., evidence of an income pathway-was not found in any of the landscapes studied. A positive association between forest cover and integration to the cash economy was found in Indonesia-where high-value forest products such as resin (e.g., \"gaharu\") and swiflet nests are harvested and traded (Leonald and Rowland, 2016)-but no association between integration to the cash economy and dietary quality was found in this landscape (Tables 3, 4).A negative association between forest cover and integration to the cash economy was found in three landscapes: Cameroon, FIGURE 4 | Piece-wise structural equation models linking the percentage of forest in a 2-km radius surrounding each household (FRST) to its household dietary diversity score recorded over the past 24 h (DD24) for Bangladesh (BAN), Burkina Faso (BUR), Cameroon (CAM), Ethiopia (ETH), Indonesia (IND), Nicaragua (NIC), and Zambia (ZAM). Only relationships that are statistically significant (P < 0.1) are represented with their coefficient in the networks. FARM: farm size (ha), HMGD: presence/absence of a home garden, LIVT: livestock ownership (TLU or presence/absence), CASH: integration or not to the cash economy.Ethiopia, and Nicaragua (Table 4). Forested areas of the tropics tend to be remote rural areas, which are often characterized by poverty (Bird et al., 2011). Income-earning opportunities tend to be limited, and markets distant (Angelsen and Wunder, 2003).Our results suggest that agricultural production supports diet quality in five out of the seven countries studied. Farm area was positively associated with dietary diversity and fruit and vegetable consumptions in Burkina Faso, with vegetable and meat consumptions in Nicaragua, and with meat consumption in Indonesia. Home gardens were positively associated with dietary diversity and meat consumption in Indonesia, with fruit consumption in Burkina Faso, and with meat consumption in Ethiopia. Finally, livestock ownership was positively associated with improved dietary diversity and fruit and meat consumptions in Nicaragua and with improved fruit consumption in Bangladesh (Figure 4 and Table 3).We found evidence of an agroecological pathway-positive associations between forest and agricultural production (farm, home garden, or livestock), combined with a positive association between agricultural production and diet quality-in three landscapes: Bangladesh, Ethiopia, and Indonesia. This was characterized by positive associations between forest cover and livestock ownership, and between livestock ownership and fruit consumption in Bangladesh; positive associations between forest cover and presence of a home garden, and between presence of a home garden and meat consumption in Ethiopia; and by positive associations between forest cover and farm area, and between farm area and meat consumption in Indonesia.Though generally not combined with positive relationships with diet quality, evidence of positive association between forest cover and crop and livestock production was found in five TABLE 3 | Estimates and their confidence intervals and associated P-values for the predictors of household dietary diversity scores (DD24), fruit consumption (FT24), vegetable consumption (VG24), and meat (and other animal product excluding dairy) consumption (MT24) for Bangladesh (BAN), Burkina Faso (BUR), Cameroon (CAM), Ethiopia (ETH), Indonesia (IND), Nicaragua (NIC), and Zambia (ZAM). Predictors with an associated P-value lower than 0.1 are in bold.Frontiers in Sustainable Food Systems | www.frontiersin.org landscapes. Forest cover was positively related to farm area in Ethiopia and Indonesia; to the presence of a home garden in Bangladesh, Cameroon, and Ethiopia; and to livestock ownership in Bangladesh, Burkina Faso, and Ethiopia (Table 4). This positive relationship could be explained by ecosystem services provided by forests. In particular, soil fertility maintenance, micro-climate regulation, and pollination may be critical to crop species found in home gardens (Islam et al., 2008;Garibaldi et al., 2011;Baudron et al., 2017). Larger farm areas and larger livestock herds in the more forested sites may also be explained by lower population densities, resulting in greater availability of land for local farmers (Dzingirai et al., 2013). Conversely, forest cover was negatively associated with farming in three landscapes, as reflected in smaller farm areas in Cameroon and Zambia, and reduced livestock ownership in Cameroon and Indonesia (Table 4). This negative association could be the reflection of policies that encourage conventional forms of intensification and not tree-based crop and livestock production systems (agroforestry and silvopastralism) and other production systems based on agroecology (Garibaldi et al., 2019). For instance, both the Cameroon and the Indonesia landscapes are characterized by a rapid expansion of large-scale plantations (Asaha and Deakin, 2016;Leonald and Rowland, 2016). This negative association could also be the result of lost opportunities to convert forests-particularly if they are protected-to cropland and pastures (Balmford and Whitten, 2003). It could as well be the result of crop destruction and livestock depredation by wildlife in the most forested parts of these landscapes (Choudhury, 2004;Michalski et al., 2006;Yirga and Bauer, 2010;Baudron et al., 2011). Forests may also act as reservoirs of crop pests and the wildlife they host may transmit diseases to livestock (Bengis et al., 2002;Blitzer et al., 2012). Much more emphasis is placed on ecosystem services than ecosystem disservices in the scientific literature. However, considering both is crucial in the design of multifunctional landscapes that deliver net benefits to local residents, in terms of diet quality but also other aspects of human well-being.Although illuminating regarding the pathways linking forest cover to dietary diversity, this research suffered from a number of limitations, which should be considered by future studies.While our cross-site comparison allowed us to evaluate if patterns occurred across countries and forest types, higher spatial and temporal resolution of both forest cover and dietary diversity datasets may allow us to better distinguish the pathways from forests to diets. With the use of 30-m-resolution satellite images (from Landsat imagery), some small forest patches were likely undetected, particularly in the most sparsely forested landscapes. Forest detection could be improved with the use of images of higher resolution (Sentinel-2 images have a 10-m resolution, RapidEye images have a 5-m resolution, and Quickbird images have a 2.5-m resolution). Diet quality was only assessed once in each household, missing the temporal dynamic of availability and consumption of the different food groups. The sources of the different food groups (forest, farm, and market) were also not recorded, reducing the power of our analysis. The proxies TABLE 4 | Estimates and their confidence intervals and associated P values for the predictors of integration to the cash economy (CASH), farm size (FARM), home garden presence/absence (HMGD), and livestock ownership (LIVT) for Bangladesh, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Ethiopia, Indonesia, Nicaragua, and Zambia, derived from the piece-wise structural equation models using household dietary diversity scores. Predictors with an associated P-value lower than 0.1 are in bold.of crop and livestock production (farm area, presence or not of a home garden, livestock ownership) were coarse: a more refined picture could be obtained by measuring actual production and diversity of key food groups by these different farm components.Similarly, the use of actual income data, rather than the use of a binary variable for integration to the cash economy, would be more powerful to test the income pathway.In addition to these issues of data resolution, our analysis could have been improved with the inclusion of forest tenure and ethnicity data. For instance, we did not account for forest tenure in this analysis, and as such, forest cover does not necessarily equate with accessibility of forests. As noted above, the inability to account for ethnicity complicated interpretation of the results in some sites where this has a strong impact on dietary habits. For example, forest communities in the Indonesia landscape do not normally consume pulses, while those living in less forested areas have adopted tofu consumption, a dietary practice introduced from elsewhere in Indonesia.While a growing number of studies have found fairly consistent relationships between forest cover and diet quality (Ickowitz et al., 2014;Galway et al., 2018;Rasolofoson et al., 2018), this study highlights the diversity of pathways that may be driving these relationships. The relative importance of each pathway varied between each of the study sites. We found evidence of a direct pathway to at least one of our four diet metrics in four landscapes (Bangladesh, Cameroon, Ethiopia, and Zambia), of an income pathway in none of the landscapes, and of an agroecological pathway in three landscapes (Bangladesh, Ethiopia, and Indonesia).Although it appears to be the most important link between forests and diets, the sustainability of the direct pathway is threatened both by a return to more stringent conservation policies (Hutton et al., 2005) and by unsustainable harvesting of forest products, often fueled by demand from distant markets. This study also found evidence of forest supporting crop and livestock production in five landscapes, although this only led to improved diet quality (i.e., agroecological pathway) in three landscapes. These forest-production linkages have implications for the question of integration or segregation of food production and nature conservation, as encapsulated by the land sharing vs. land sparing debate. Although several studies have demonstrated that land sparing (i.e., segregation of food production and nature conservation) appears to offer the best outcome for tropical biodiversity (Phalan, 2018), this segregation is likely to represent a threat to local food production, as it would cut off smallholder farms from critical ecosystem services (critical as smallholders in the tropics tend to depend on ecosystem services more than external inputs).These results highlight the intricacies of when and where different pathways link forests to better diet quality. In the context of rapid dietary and landscape changes, forests may be more important in some places than others, but we do not yet have enough evidence to determine where forests are most needed. Our results also suggest that the positive contributions of forests to rural livelihoods cannot be generalized and should not be idealized."}

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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"78ace2d4c835d2f9de7f0a479cd823d4","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/c1a4bb7a-9ae8-44a6-8efb-848d71541f01/retrieve","id":"-2135545140"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"fe6895e3-5a24-4738-ab9a-17c71d7e7f9d","content":"Jean-François Giovannetti argues that more effective information sharing and knowledge management are essential for agricultural and rural development.Dr Giovannetti, since the early 1990s you have played a pioneering role in various initiatives to use ICTs to make agricultural information more accessible to farmers and researchers in ACP countries. Can you briefly describe some of the most successful initiatives?For farmers, perhaps the most innovative initiative is the Rural Universe Network (RUN), which is led by our colleagues at the German Centre for Agricultural Documentation and Information (ZADI) and supported by CTA (See the article Q&A service for farmers in ACP countries in this issue.RUN is a question and answer service, although the way it is set up, RUN goes further than that. As it recruits local experts to address the farmers' questions, and publishes all questions and answers on a single website, the project is effectively mobilizing local knowledge and skills. At present RUN covers mainly francophone countries, but the Global Forum on Agricultural Research (GFAR) is keen to facilitate the 'scaling out' of the network, and to replicate its methodology elsewhere. Already, an Arabic version of RUN is being discussed. For researchers, I would like to mention the Scientific and Technical Information System (SIST) project funded by the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs. SIST aims to establish national portals for scientific and technical information in 12 African countries: Algeria,GFAR is trying to shift away from a top-down approach to agricultural extension, in which farmers are merely the end-users of research, towards a concept of innovation where multiple stakeholders, including farmers participate in research activities. Therefore, if all stakeholders are involved from the beginning, the 'internalization' of the research output is no longer a limiting factor. An example of a project facilitated by GFAR that is fully in line with this approach is Prolinnova, a global initiative to promote local people's innovation in ecologically oriented agriculture and natural resources management. Another concern is that the dissemination of agricultural information is managed more effectively. At GFAR we are giving a lot of attention to this issue. Our last inter-regional consultation in Rome, in June 2004, led to a proposal for a framework for action, entitled the Global Partnership Project on Information and Communication Management for Agricultural Research for D... (ICM4ARD). This proposal lists a number of priority actions, including efforts to strengthen the capacity of all stakeholders, from producers to end-users, to create, manage and share agricultural information.This is obviously a relevant question for the new CTA Director. I believe that, with its modest resources, CTA's agenda should focus on capacity building among ACP stakeholders, as it would be difficult for CTA to play a significant role in the formulation of ICT policy at the global, regional or national level. Another key element in the CTA agenda is advocacy, particularly in efforts to enable national agricultural research systems (NARS) in ACP countries to play a more proactive role in the development of their own ICT enabled agricultural information systems. This ties in with the approach taken by GFAR. Indeed, in cooperation with the regional forums and the NARS, GFAR has suggested some concrete activities aimed at meeting these objectives in the ICM4ARD proposal."}

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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"3aea8e7bc834e86bf78d8eb505bba302","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/85639e66-5763-42d9-8486-2d4378abff0b/retrieve","id":"-1574709766"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"0e79d303-8857-48e4-9a97-5561276c507c","content":"A pesar del uso cada vez mayor de los sistemas de innovación y los enfoques de desarrollo en base a cadenas de valor para estimular el crecimiento de los ingresos rurales, la reducción de la pobreza y una mayor equidad de género existe poco conocimiento sistemático sobre cómo operacionalizar los enfoques de la cadena de valor en diferentes contextos, y cómo ampliar sus beneficios. Este artículo considera el desarrollo de la cadena de valor en términos competitivos, como un tipo de intervención que promueve el desarrollo de ventajas competitivas y contribuye a la reducción de la pobreza, al mejorar los vínculos entre los pequeños agricultores, comerciantes, procesadores y consumidores dentro de una cadena de valor. El Enfoque Participativo de Cadenas Productivas (EPCP) se describe como un enfoque flexible que involucra a actores de la cadena, investigadores y otros proveedores de servicios en un proceso colectivo que explora las oportunidades de negocios potenciales para el beneficio de los pequeños agricultores y otros actores de la cadena. Este enfoque fue desarrollado y aplicado por primera vez en el Perú, y luego, a través del intercambio de conocimientos, ha sido validado por el CIP y organizaciones locales en Bolivia y Ecuador en la zona Andina. Se describen las experiencias con la implementación y el ajuste del enfoque en estos contextos, así como las condiciones que han permitido la promoción de las innovaciones como base para desarrollar ventajas competitivas. El documento concluye con lecciones sobre la implementación que contribuyen a mejorar el diseño de las intervenciones y la promoción de enfoques de la cadena de valor en diferentes contextos.Palabras clave adicionales: desarrollo de cadenas de valor, innovación, escalamiento, pequeños agricultores, biodiversidad, medios de vida ruralesDespite the increasing use of innovation systems and development approaches based on value chains to stimulate the growth of rural incomes, poverty reduction and greater gender equality there is little systematic knowledge about how to operationalize the value chain approaches in different contexts, and how to extend their benefits. This article considers the development of the value chain in competitive terms, as a type of intervention that promotes the development of competitive advantages and contributes to the reduction of poverty, by improving the links between small farmers, merchants, processors and consumers within of a value chain. Participatory Market Chain Approach (PMCA) is described as a flexible approach involving value chain actors researchers and other service providers in a collective process that explores the potential business opportunities for the benefit of small farmers and other actors in the chain. This approach was developed and applied first in Peru, and then, through knowledge exchange, it has been validated by CIP and local organizations in Bolivia and Ecuador in the Andean region. Experiences about its implementation and adjustment of the approach in these contexts are described as well as the conditions that have allowed the promotion of innovations as a basis to develop competitive advantages. The document concludes with lessons on implementation that contribute to improving the design of interventions and the promotion of value chain approaches in different contexts.value chain development, innovation, scaling, smallholders, biodiversity, rural livelihoods.La agricultura está cambiando rápidamente en los países en desarrollo en respuesta a una variedad de factores, incluyendo las reformas institucionales y de políticas, las mejoras en la educación y la salud de los agricultores, nuevas oportunidades de ingreso y las inversiones en infraestructura rural. Existen señales claras de que las agroindustrias están teniendo un impacto global significativo en el desarrollo económico y la reducción de la pobreza, tanto en las comunidades urbanas como rurales (FAO, 2013).El acceso sostenible a los mercados posibilita que los agricultores pobres puedan aumentar los ingresos de su trabajo como una de las estrategias para reducir la pobreza (Wiggins et al. 2013,). Pero a menudo están en desventaja para producir y realizar transacciones en cadenas alimentarias de alta calidad (es decir, generar ventajas competitivas) debido a su acceso todavía limitado a los servicios, financieros y no financieros, y a su baja capacidad organizativa para la comercialización colectiva. Además, si se considera que los mercados tradicionales a los cuales se conectan normalmente se caracterizan muchas veces por la desconfianza, la incertidumbre y los altos costos de transacción, sus conexiones con el mercado son todavía informales. Esto es particularmente cierto para los cultivos perecibles, como la papa, que se cultivan en pequeñas fincas en zonas montañosas. Para que la investigación agrícola genere ventajas competitivas que beneficien a los productores de las zonas rurales, debe complementarse con otros esfuerzos que mejoren el entorno normativo, aliviar las limitaciones de recursos y crear capacidad local para responder a los desafíos y oportunidades tecnológicas y económicas cambiantes. A pesar de los riesgos asociados con los mercados de alto valor, los cambios del entorno del sector agrícola pueden contribuir en el desarrollo de mejores servicios de apoyo para los agricultores, tales como tecnología, extensión, seguros y apoyo financiero. Pequeños productores con acceso a servicios de apoyo técnico se han mostrado dispuestos a adoptar nuevas tecnologías e invertir para aprovechar las oportunidades de mercado (Royer et al. 2016).En una recopilación de casos de investigación se presentan los resultados de trabajos recientes del consorcio CGIAR 2 y sus asociados en África, Asia y América Latina en los cuales se analizan las oportunidades que surgen de los mercados nuevos y en expansión de productos agrícolas, y se identifican los retos para la participación de los pequeños productores en esos mercados y los beneficios derivados de su participación (Devaux et al. 2016). En la zona Andina, la Iniciativa Papa Andina en los Andes utilizó la acción colectiva en dos enfoques para fomentar la innovación en la cadena de mercado: el Enfoque Participativo de Cadenas Productivas (EPCP) (Devaux et al. 2009) y las Plataformas de Innovación (Thiele et al. 2011b).Ambos enfoques buscan promover la interacción de los pequeños productores de papa con los actores del mercado y los proveedores de servicios agrícolas para favorecer alianzas y acuerdos contractuales en respuesta a nuevas oportunidades de mercado.El presente artículo plantea algunas perspectivas sobre el desarrollo de la cadena de valor (DCV), y destaca las experiencias del Centro Internacional de la Papa (CIP) con el EPCP. Este enfoque, desarrollado originalmente para aumentar la competitividad y mejorar los medios de vida de los pequeños productores de papa en el Perú, también ha demostrado ser útil en otras cadenas de mercado y en otras partes de los Andes y del mundo. El artículo presenta las experiencias de implementación y los ajustes del enfoque en los Andes analizando los factores que han influido en su implementación y considera algunas lecciones surgidas de las experiencias en diferentes contextos para mejorar el diseño de las intervenciones usando el enfoque EPCP como herramienta de investigación para el desarrollo y para analizar las condiciones de réplica y adaptación.Los conceptos de cadena de valor representan un cambio importante en el pensamiento sobre el desarrollo y las relaciones entre productores agrícolas, comerciantes, procesadores y consumidores. El término \"cadena de valor\" se utiliza de diferentes maneras en la literatura profesional. En este artículo, una cadena de valor se refiere al conjunto de actores y mercados relacionados entre sí que transforman insumos y servicios en productos con atributos que los consumidores están dispuestos a comprar. Millones de personas de bajos ingresosuna gran parte mujeres-participan en cadenas de valor agrícola como productores, comerciantes, procesadores y minoristas. Muchos millones más, incluyendo a la mayoría de los pobres del mundo en desarrollo, participan en cadenas de valor agrícolas como trabajadores o consumidores. Por lo tanto, mejorar el desempeño de las cadenas de valor agropecuaria beneficiará a un gran número de personas (Reardon y Timmer 2012, Reardon et al., 2012).El término \"desarrollo de la cadena de valor\" (que abreviaremos como DCV en el artículo) describe un tipo de intervención que apunta a abordar la pobreza a través de vínculos mejorados entre las empresas y los productores rurales. Ha sido definido como un \"cambio positivo o deseable en una cadena de valor para extender o mejorar las operaciones productivas y generar beneficios sociales: generación de ingresos y empleo, crecimiento económico, desempeño ambiental, equidad de género y otros objetivos de desarrollo sostenible\" (UNIDO 2011). Desde esta perspectiva, muchas agencias de desarrollo, donantes y gobiernos han adoptado el enfoque de cadena de valor para el desarrollo como un elemento clave de sus estrategias de reducción de la pobreza rural (Humphrey y Navas-Alemán, 2010).Figura 1. Cadena de valor estilizada.Fuente: Devaux et al. 2016, figura 14.1 En contraste con los enfoques tradicionales de investigación y desarrollo (I+D) agrícola, que se centran en mejorar las capacidades de los pequeños productores para aumentar su productividad o administrar mejor los recursos naturales, el enfoque DCV desafía a las organizaciones de I+D a trabajar con diversos actores para comprender el desempeño de la cadena de valor e identificar opciones mutuamente beneficiosas para mejorar el rendimiento y la eficiencia de la cadena, en base al desarrollo de innovaciones.Si bien la globalización de los mercados ofrece oportunidades para comercializar productos de mayor valor que simplemente no existían antes, estos mercados generalmente demandan mucho más en términos de perspicacia empresarial, eficiencia y atención a las normas de calidad e inocuidad alimentaria que los mercados de productos tradicionales (Reardon et al. 2009). La participación en las cadenas de valor para mercados más exigentes requiere que los pequeños productores entreguen suministros regulares de productos de calidad consistente y en cantidad suficiente. El cumplimiento de estas condiciones requiere acceso a la tierra, insumos, tecnología, conocimiento, organización, capacidad, habilidad e infraestructura, que pueden no existir en algunas comunidades o hacer falta en algunos grupos de productores pobres. Se requieren también políticas públicas para adecuar las estrategias del gobierno a las diferentes situaciones para apoyar la participación de los pequeños productores en cadenas de valor más dinámicas. Los pequeños productores, en comparación con los agricultores medianos y grandes, están en desventaja en estas transformaciones, ya que muchas veces están ubicados en zonas con menos infraestructura privada y pública, están más alejados de los mercados, y tienen condiciones menos favorables para una agricultura de altos rendimientos y de alta calidad.En este contexto, el CIP, en el marco de sus actividades en la zona andina, ha desarrollado un enfoque participativo más integrado, que combina la innovación agrícola, institucional y en el marco de las cadenas de valor, buscando un efecto sinérgico. Este enfoque, llamado Enfoque Participativo en Cadenas Productivas (EPCP), busca ser flexible e involucra a pequeños agricultores, agentes de mercado (comerciantes, empresas, procesadores, entre otros), investigadores y otros proveedores de servicios en un proceso colectivo que identifica y explora oportunidades de negocios potenciales que pueden beneficiar equitativamente a los diversos actores de una cadena seleccionada (Bernet et al. 2006). Fue desarrollado y aplicado por primera vez en los Andes, para aumentar la competitividad de la cadena del mercado de la papa, que constituye un componente importante del sistema agroalimentario local, y para contribuir a mejorar los medios de vida de los pequeños agricultores. El CIP ha encabezado el desarrollo del EPCP y ha apoyado el desarrollo de las capacidades locales necesarias para facilitar los procesos de innovación exitosos (Devaux et al. 2013).Desde finales de 1990, la iniciativa regional Papa Andina 3 ha trabajado para fortalecer la capacidad de las organizaciones de investigación y desarrollo en Bolivia, Ecuador y Perú con el objetivo general de aumentar la competitividad y mejorar los medios de vida de los pequeños productores de papa (Devaux et al., 2011)  (Engel & Salomon, 1997), con la finalidad de estimular la innovación agrícola. Este enfoque reúne a diversas partes interesadas en un proceso participativo que estimula el aprendizaje colectivo, fomenta la confianza y promueve la innovación. Papa Andina empleó el RAAKS para explorar oportunidades de mercado involucrando a los pequeños agricultores, junto con actores de la cadena, investigadores y otros proveedores de servicios.La participación de los comerciantes, supermercados, procesadores de alimentos y chefs en un proceso de investigación para el desarrollo, fue una 3 El Programa Regional Papa Andina, implementado por el CIP con el apoyo de la Agencia Suiza para el Desarrollo y la Cooperación (COSUDE), ha trabajado desde 1999 hasta 2010 orientándose a fortalecer la capacidad de las organizaciones de Investigación y Desarrollo (I+D) de Bolivia, Ecuador y Perú, con el objetivo de aumentar la competitividad y mejorar los medios de vida de los pequeños productores de papa. 4 El Proyecto INCOPA, auspiciado por el Centro Internacional de la Papa (CIP) y con el apoyo de la Agencia Suiza para el Desarrollo y la Cooperación (COSUDE) fue formulado para mejorar la competitividad de la cadena de valor de la papa en Perú con énfasis en las papas nativas cultivadas por pequeños agricultores de las zonas alto-andinas. ruptura radical con los esfuerzos anteriores de I+D participativos, que se limitaban a investigadores y agricultores. Al implementarse las experiencias se añadieron pasos adicionales a RAAKS para el desarrollo de nuevos productos, y en ese contexto surgió un nuevo enfoque: el EPCP, que fue implementado en Perú y después validado en Bolivia en el 2003. En los años siguientes el enfoque fue aplicado en diferentes contextos y ampliamente documentado (Ordinola et al., 2009;Devaux et al., 2011).El EPCP involucra a los actores que participan en una cadena de mercado, así como a los proveedores de servicios financieros y no financieros, públicos y privados, de apoyo a la cadena (tales como investigadores, proveedores de crédito y profesionales del desarrollo) en un proceso facilitado en el que se identifican y desarrollan innovaciones para aprovechar las oportunidades de mercado. Estas innovaciones pueden ser tecnológicas, comerciales e institucionales. La aplicación del EPCP está estructurada en tres fases que pueden durar alrededor de 12 a 18 meses según el contexto público, privado y los actores involucrados, como se presenta a continuación (Bernet et al., 2006;Antezana et al., 2008).Figura 2. La estructura de la metodología en 3 fases del EPCP Fuente: Tomado de Bernet, et al, 2006 FASE 1. Conocer los actores de la cadena de mercado y sus actividades mediante un diagnóstico. El EPCP es iniciado por una organización de I+D que lidera la selección de la cadena de mercado en la que se trabajará, identificando posibles socios de I+D y realizando investigaciones exploratorias y de diagnóstico participativo en la cadena. Esta fase, que puede durar de dos a cuatro meses, concluye con un evento público para discutir los resultados del diagnóstico, generar ideas para posibles innovaciones y motivar a los actores de la cadena de mercado y proveedores de servicios a participar en la Fase 2. FASE 2. Análisis conjunto de oportunidades de mercado potenciales y de necesidades de innovación para aprovechar las oportunidades. Los representantes de las organizaciones de I+D participantes facilitan la exploración y el análisis de las oportunidades potenciales del mercado. Los actores de la cadena y los proveedores de servicios, organizados en grupos temáticos de interés, sostienen reuniones de trabajo para analizar las oportunidades haciendo uso de estudios técnicos o de mercado. Un segundo evento público se lleva a cabo al final de la Fase 2, para discutir las oportunidades de negocio priorizadas y para alentar a nuevos actores con el conocimiento adecuado y la experiencia complementaria a unirse a la Fase 3. FASE 3. Desarrollo conjunto de innovaciones. Durante esta fase final, los grupos se enfocan en el desarrollo de productos y pruebas de mercado y en el lanzamiento de innovaciones específicas. En esta fase, las empresas juegan un rol más protagónico. Esto puede requerir trabajos especializados como pruebas de procesamiento, embalaje, etiquetado o marca. El ejercicio EPCP se cierra con un tercer evento público en el que las innovaciones de mercado desarrolladas se presentan a una amplia red de interesados como funcionarios públicos, donantes potenciales, responsables políticos, tomadores de decisiones del sector privado (supermercados, procesadores, chefs), público y representantes de los medios de comunicación.Las experiencias descritas en este artículo ilustran ejemplos concretos de aplicación del enfoque de cadena y sus resultados en diferentes contextos.País Fuentes principales(1) La revolución de la papa nativa en Perú Perú en el marco de la Iniciativa Regional Papa Andina, con el objetivo de promover innovaciones en la producción y comercialización de la papa nativa y mejorar la competitividad de esta cadena en beneficio de los pequeños agricultores que la producían. Con este fin, se desarrolló y usó el enfoque de investigación y desarrollo aplicado, denominado EPCP. INCOPA trabajó para vincular a los pequeños productores de papas nativas con investigadores, profesionales del desarrollo y una gama de actores de la cadena del mercado de la papa (supermercados, procesadores, chefs) para capitalizar la biodiversidad de las papas nativas y sus atributos culinarios, nutricionales y culturales. La implementación del EPCP fue complementado con esfuerzos para promover las alianzas entre actores de la cadena mediante plataformas de innovación, para aumentar la conciencia pública sobre las virtudes de las papas nativas y apoyar la formulación de políticas en apoyo a estas cadenas. El EPCP actuó como un detonador de innovaciones que, en combinación con diferentes intervenciones en el ámbito técnico, institucional y político, desencadenó procesos de innovación comerciales, productivas e institucionales que siguen hasta hoy y contribuyeron a lo que se puede llamar \"la revolución de la papa nativa en el Perú\" (Horton y Samanamud, 2013).En el Perú se implementaron dos ciclos del EPCP. La primera aplicación se centró en la comercialización de variedades mejoradas de papa; el segundo ciclo se enfocó en la comercialización de papas nativas. Los participantes en los ejercicios fueron no sólo investigadores, funcionarios del ministerio de agricultura y actores típicos de la cadena de mercado, sino también chefs y gerentes de supermercados. Esta fue la primera vez que un grupo tan diverso se reunía para colaborar en opciones para mejorar y promover la papa en el Perú. Los \"nuevos actores\" trajeron energía renovada y nuevas ideas a discusiones que antes habían estado dominadas por profesionales de I+D.Las aplicaciones del EPCP dieron lugar a dos nuevos productos elaborados con papas nativas de Perú. T'ikapapa fue lanzada como la primera marca de papa nativa fresca gourmet vendida en un supermercado de la capital peruana. Poco después, Jalca Chips, un producto innovador de chips de papa de diferentes colores naturales (azul, roja, amarilla) también fue producido a partir de papas nativas. Ambos productos estaban disponibles en las tiendas de comestibles y fueron reemplazados poco a poco por innovaciones comerciales mejoradas, en un proceso de imitación creativa. Hoy en día han aparecido en el mercado más de 20 productos similares, algunos de los cuales se exportan, como se ilustra en la figura 3 (Ordinola et al., 2009).Además de los nuevos productos, surgieron ideas importantes para iniciativas políticas y campañas de sensibilización y promoción de la papa y su consumo durante el segundo ciclo del EPCP. Quizá lo más notable fue el Día Nacional de la Papa del Perú. Se estableció en 2005 y se ha celebrado anualmente desde entonces tanto en Lima como en las diferentes regiones. El Ministro de Agricultura estableció una comisión especial para organizar este evento, incluyendo participantes del ejercicio del EPCP. Hoy en día esta comisión continúa funcionando como una red institucionalizada y el MINAGRI asigna un presupuesto anual a esta celebración que promueve cada año el sector de la papa en la sociedad peruana. Esta comisión apoyó los esfuerzos de los funcionarios del gobierno peruano en su solicitud para que las Naciones Unidas declarase el 2008 como Año Internacional de la Papa. Cuando esta propuesta fue aceptada, la comisión encabezó numerosas actividades de divulgación en el Perú para esta celebración que se extendió a lo largo del año. La combinación de innovaciones en la cadena de mercado, los cambios en las políticas para promover la modernización del sector comercial y la conciencia pública han contribuido a cambiar la imagen y percepción de las papas nativas en el Perú.El proyecto INCOPA y su red de colaboradores público-privados respaldaron las iniciativas de los pequeños empresarios más innovadores. Estos esfuerzos fueron apoyados por ONGs que trabajaban en los territorios donde se producían estas papas, para ayudar a los productores a organizarse y poder abastecer con productos de calidad según los requerimientos del mercado. La plataforma CAPAC Perú (Cadenas Productivas Agrícolas de Calidad en Perú), que surgió como una innovación institucional y a partir del EPCP, ha apoyado la cadena de valor de la papa nativa promoviendo la interacción entre los productores y los agentes de mercado (Ordinola et al., 2009). La participación de diferentes actores del mercado, incitada por los resultados prometedores que observaron con las pequeñas empresas, llevó a la creación de una serie de nuevos productos a base de papa y de diferentes marcas de chips de papas nativas de calidad superior, que hizo aparecer en el mercado una gama de productos promovidos por multinacionales como Frito Lay y Gloria y también por pequeñas empresas de provincias, para responder a demandas diversas del mercado. El EPCP suscitó un proceso de \"gatillo\" (disparador), donde la segunda y tercera generación de innovaciones resultaron, muchas veces, más importantes que las primeras que fueron desarrolladas durante su aplicación inicial (Ordinola et al., 2013;Proexpansión, 2011). La figura 3 ilustra este proceso.Figura 3 El EPCP como un detonador de la innovación para el desarrollo de nuevos productos de papa en el Perú Fuente: Actualizado en base a Ordinola, et al, 2009 En la provincia de Andahuaylas, Región Apurímac, Perú, se implementó un estudio de impacto para evaluar los alcances e impactos iniciales de la intervención del Proyecto INCOPA a través de la plataforma institucional CAPAC Perú 5 , utilizándose el marco metodológico de evaluación \"vías de impacto\" (Maldonado et al., 2011). En esa región, el proyecto INCOPA 5 Cadenas Productivas Agrícolas de Calidad en el Perú, (CAPAC Perú) era una organización de promoción social, económica y tecnológica de segundo nivel, orientada a brindar servicios especializados en el desarrollo de las cadenas productivas de papa y otros tubérculos que se cultivan en el Perú. promovió el uso de la biodiversidad y el desarrollo de oportunidades de mercado para las papas nativas para mejorar la competitividad de la cadena de la papa utilizando el EPCP. Para este estudio, se elaboró una lista de 80 productores en la zona de intervención utilizando el criterio de estratificación por ubicación geográfica (las unidades de muestreo se agrupan según su ubicación geográfica). Asimismo, se definió como grupo contrafactual a 66 agricultores de las mismas zonas.Entre las principales conclusiones de este estudio de caso se destacó que:1. los productores de papa de la zona estudiada han ampliado y diversificado sus relaciones comerciales, principalmente por la mayor demanda de la papa nativa tanto a nivel local como de los supermercados y la agroindustria en Lima;2. Los pequeños productores de la zona estudiada han logrado desarrollar habilidades de gestión comercial y han mejorado sus técnicas de postcosecha de acuerdo con la mayor demanda de los nuevos mercados a los cuáles han accedido;3. Los productores de papa (grupo objetivo) pertenecen a organizaciones que mantienen relaciones y vínculos con otras instituciones proveedoras de servicios, lo cual les permite acceder a asistencia técnica y al desarrollo de una gestión comercial más eficiente;4. Los productores involucrados en el proyecto obtienen mayores ingresos promedios a través de mejores precios (26 por ciento por encima del grupo control) y mayores volúmenes de ventas de papa, especialmente de papa nativa.Posteriormente, en un estudio de caso sobre la participación en cadenas de valor de papas nativa de los productores de estas papas en la sierra central del Perú, Dan Tobin (2016) investigó la diferenciación social dentro de comunidades entre participantes y no participantes, así como las razones para la inclusión o exclusión de los hogares en la articulación a la cadena. Estos hallazgos indican que la participación en cadenas de valor no es necesariamente beneficiosa para todos los pequeños productores. Para que dichos programas tengan amplios beneficios sociales se necesitan políticas y otros arreglos institucionales para analizar y minimizar los riesgos de participación en tales cadenas de valor y para brindar apoyo para la participación en otros tipos de mercados menos exigentes. Dado que los mercados de alto valor a menudo requieren una mayor inversión y activos, probablemente no exista una combinación adecuada entre los hogares de más bajos recursos y los mercados de alto valor. Horton y Samanamud (2013), indican también que las familias con menor extensión de tierras, menor educación, escaso acceso al crédito y redes sociales menos desarrolladas se han beneficiado menos de las nuevas oportunidades de mercado. Pero a pesar de estas consideraciones, estos mismos autores mencionan que proceso de innovación generado por el EPCP ayudó a mejorar la imagen de las papas nativas y a vincular a los pequeños productores con más capacidades a los mercados urbanos dinámicos para productos a base de papa.Analizando el caso del desarrollo de las cadenas de papas nativas en Perú, el contexto económico y político del país ha sido favorable, incluyendo el apoyo del gobierno con políticas favorables, la participación del sector privado comprometido, el desarrollo del sector gastronómico que promueve productos nativos, y la integración en proyectos de la cooperación internacional, en este caso de COSUDE, que fortaleció el proceso de innovación mediante la capacitación y el acompañamiento a la implementación del EPCP y al desarrollo de las innovaciones. Este proceso ha posibilitado cambiar la situación anterior, que consideraba las papas nativas como alimento básico de subsistencia para los agricultores pobres de las alturas, con poco futuro en la agricultura orientada al mercado, y que ahora son reconocidas como un producto peruano especial y nutritivo que merece un premio (vía precio) en los mercados urbanos y restaurantes gourmet.El caso de las papas nativas de Huancavelica (Perú) es interesante mencionar. La experiencia se ha orientado a la promoción productiva y comercial de las papas nativas para mercados de alta segmentación (comercio justo y productos orgánicos) tanto nacional como internacional. Como en el caso de experiencias con el EPCP en Bolivia, las innovaciones de mercado con las papas nativas que se desarrollaron anteriormente con el EPCP en Perú, sirvieron de insumos iniciales para desarrollar esta experiencia. Se ha logrado desarrollar un modelo innovador para el manejo y gestión sostenible de las acciones, impulsando la articulación de sectores públicos y privados en torno a la cadena de papas nativas y en base a tres componentes.Esta iniciativa combina (1) un componente relacionado con el mercado (el cual es el motor del modelo), donde se complementan las 6 En base a \"Desarrollando la producción de la sierra en función a mercados de alta segmentación: El caso de las papas nativas de Huancavelica\". Informe de consultoría preparado por Miguel Ordinola y Francisco Bellido. Setiembre 2016. Este proyecto lo implementó la institución CEDINCO con el apoyo financiero del Fondo Ítalo Peruano (FIP), con familias de diversas comunidades de Castrovirreyna, Huancavelica y Tayacaja y en alianza con la ENIEX Agrónomos y Veterinarios Sin Fronteras -AVSF. alternativas de los mercados nacionales e internacionales, asociados con productos de alta diferenciación comercial. Las intervenciones a este nivel tienen que ver con: i) identificación y relacionamiento comercial con mercados de alta segmentación principalmente internacionales (orgánico y comercio justo); ii) acceso a certificaciones de reconocido valor comercial (comercio justo y producción orgánica); iii) promoción comercial de productos diversificados; iv) acceso a mercados y estrategia de promoción comercial. (2) Un componente relacionado con la oferta de calidad y abastecimiento continúo para la consolidación del negocio en los diferentes mercados. De acuerdo a los mercados identificados se desarrolló la oferta en función a los estándares requeridos por la demanda. Para esto se implementaron las siguientes intervenciones: i) promoción de producción orgánica con un enfoque de demanda; ii) articulación con la investigación a nivel local (tesis); iii) conservación de la biodiversidad (trabajo con agricultores conservacionistas; iv) posibilitar el abastecimiento continuo del producto (dos campañas al año con pequeños sistemas de riego; v) manejo, producción y uso de semilla de calidad;(3) Un componente relacionado con los aspectos organizacionales, en sentido que la asociatividad es clave para generar escalas en la producción y desarrollar valor agregado. La lógica se orienta a la articulación de organizaciones (de tres provincias) con un trabajo de fortalecimiento organizacional para mejorar la eficiencia en la gestión. Las intervenciones tienen que ver con lo siguiente: i) promover un modelo empresarial;ii) acciones de fortalecimiento organizacional; iii) fortalecimiento de capacidades.Estas intervenciones se han trabajado inicialmente con 230 familias y han permitido: i) mejoras en los precios ya que se accede a mercados que reconocen (vía precios, el algunos casos los incrementos en precios han llegado al 100%) la calidad de los productos diferenciados; ii) una mayor producción (cantidad) y una mejora sustancial de la calidad, ya que se promueve el acceso a las diferentes certificaciones requeridas por los mercados finales (ya están en su sexto año de abastecimiento); iii) desarrollar mayores capacidades de negociación en los diferentes mercados y se expresa en acceder a mejores condiciones de venta (formas de pago) y precios diferenciados (sobre todo en el segmento de comercio justo).Se pueden rescatar aprendizajes de este caso:En esta experiencia se ha podido identificar de manera directa el mercado de los productos a trabajar (internacionales y nacionales) y se ha desarrollado una respuesta adecuada y efectiva. El modelo nace a partir de la existencia de una demanda no satisfecha por productos orgánicos y el acceso a los mercados de Europa, que se han complementado con los nichos de demanda del mercado local.Una contrapartida tangible (monetaria o no monetaria) hace posible que los beneficiarios jueguen un rol activo en el trabajo. Los productores organizados (ahora en el marco de la Cooperativa Agropia) se han comprometido en el cofinanciamiento de las diversas intervenciones (por ejemplo, los pequeños sistemas de riego).En esta experiencia los temas relacionados a manejo de producción orgánica, manejo de semilla de calidad, manejo de cultivo, manejo del agua, comercialización, organización y gestión empresarial, han sido reforzados en función a la obtención de una producción de calidad para responder adecuadamente al mercado.Varias instituciones han participado de esta experiencia, empresas (nacionales e internacionales), gobiernos locales, instituciones públicas (por ejemplo, el MINAGRI), entre otras instituciones que han potenciado la experiencia. Las alianzas proporcionan solidez y estabilidad a los diferentes servicios. La generación de confianza es clave para optimizar el trabajo entre los diferentes actores de los negocios.Esto ha sido el caso de los mercados externos a los cuáles han accedido los pequeños productores que participan en esta experiencia (Francia, Bélgica, Alemania), supermercados a nivel local (Wong-CENCOSUD) y tiendas especializadas de productos agroecológicos y orgánicos.Desde 2007 al 2010, el proyecto Alianza Cambio Andino 7 analizó los procesos y productos de implementación del EPCP en estudios de casos en diferentes cadenas en los Andes. En este artículo, presentamos el caso de las papas nativas en el norte de Potosí, Bolivia. PROINPA y el Centro de Desarrollo Agrícola (CAD) han trabajado durante varios años para conservar la biodiversidad de la papa y otros cultivos andinos y para reducir la pobreza rural en el norte de Potosí. La región en su conjunto produce un pequeño excedente de papas en el mercado, que varía ampliamente de un año a otro dependiendo de las condiciones climáticas. La agricultura genera pocos ingresos en efectivo, y los jóvenes abandonan el campo en busca de empleo en minas y ciudades. Esta aplicación del EPCP busco aprovechar la demanda creciente de papas nativas en mercados urbanos.La organización CAAD y la organización de agricultores PRONAPA desarrollaron un nuevo producto de papa nativa denominado '' Miskipapa'', que consistía en papas nativas seleccionadas y lavadas que se vendían en mallas. Ha sido comercializado con el apoyo de CAD durante 3 años en supermercados en La Paz y Cochabamba, en la tienda de un sindicato minero, en dos hoteles turísticos y en mercados de agricultores. Debido a las limitaciones tanto en la oferta como en la demanda de papas nativas, los beneficios económicos para los agricultores fueron reducidos. Una vez que terminó el apoyo en el marco del EPCP, la organización dejó de operar en la región y la asociación de agricultores se disolvió. Miskipapa desapareció del mercado. Muchos de los líderes productores que tuvieron un rol importante en el proceso han migrado. Por otro lado, las condiciones del modelo económico del gobierno, las condiciones agroclimáticas del lugar y la situación de pobreza de los productos no favorecieron el éxito de la implementación del EPCP.Actualmente, existen algunas iniciativas privadas (ONG, fundaciones, empresas) vinculadas a la producción y comercialización de papas nativas, que podrían tomarse como efectos indirectos o imitaciones creativas de los resultados de los primeros esfuerzos con el EPCP para promover las papas nativas en mercado boliviano. Estos fueron promovidos por la Fundación PROINPA luego de haber participado en la iniciativa inicial de EPCP con papas nativas. La compañía de procesamiento Andina de Papa (Pa&Pa) ubicada en Cochabamba proporciona un bocadillo de papa nativa en forma de hojuelas de la variedad de color Pinta Boca a la compañía boliviana de aviación -BoA, la aerolínea de bandera boliviana, propiedad del Estado. El proyecto inicial (2012) consideró la industrialización de cuatro variedades de papas nativas promovidas por la Fundación PROINPA, Pa&Pa y productores del municipio de Colomi (Cochabamba). Otra experiencia que se puede considerar como una imitación creativa en Cochabamba, es la iniciativa que promovió la papa nativa \"Pinta Boca\" en los mercados urbanos bajo la marca RICA PAPA. Se comercializó como un producto en fresco de papa gourmet en los supermercados. Es un negocio familiar que comenzó a recolectar variedades nativas de papa para abastecer a los supermercados en La Paz, Cochabamba, Oruro y Santa Cruz, además de proporcionar el Programa Público de subsidio prenatal. Actualmente, el volumen de ventas mensuales de papas nativas es de aproximadamente cinco toneladas por mes.Las políticas en favor del mercado de Perú proporcionaron un entorno más favorable para el uso del EPCP que las políticas del gobierno Boliviano, que enfatizaban más el papel del estado. Los entornos agroecológicos tienen también un efecto sobre los procesos de implementación y los resultados. En el altiplano boliviano, donde se hicieron las primeras experiencias con el EPCP y donde la pobreza es muy elevada limitando el acceso a servicios, las condiciones de producción son adversas debido al uso reducido de insumos y a los riesgos climáticos. Son limitantes severas para la implementación de los enfoques de desarrollo de la cadena de mercados agrícolas para la reducción de la pobreza rural. Las siguientes experiencias más exitosas se realizaron en zonas de producción en Cochabamba en condiciones de producción y socioeconómicas más favorables.En noviembre de 2008, mediante la colaboración entre el CIP, a través del proyecto Alianza Cambio Andino, el Programa Papa del Instituto de Investigaciones Agrícolas y Pecuarias (INIAP), la ONG local Fundación Marco, y la asociación de productores del Consorcio de Productores de Papa (CONPAPA), se inició la aplicación del EPCP en la cadena de papas nativas de Ecuador, para capitalizar la gran riqueza de variedades nativas de papa del país.El diagnóstico cualitativo de la primera fase del EPCP involucró a 29 chefs y administradores de restaurantes y hoteles de diversas provincias del país para determinar el conocimiento y las actitudes existentes hacia las papas nativas e identificar nichos de mercado. Los resultados mostraron que en los restaurantes y en los hoteles de las ciudades se desconocían estas variedades y que no se las podía encontrar en los mercados. Sin embargo, los participantes coincidieron en afirmar que representaban un interesante potencial de negocio. Un año después de haber aplicado las 3 fases del EPCP, se lanzó la marca \"papa nativa\" en un Gran Evento Final del proceso EPCP con el slogan \"descubriendo el sabor andino\". El producto consistía en una malla de papas nativas seleccionadas y lavadas (Montesdeoca et al., 2013). El lanzamiento fue apoyado con ruedas de prensa y ferias gastronómicas en el marco de la celebración del Día Nacional de la Papa. Desarrollar el producto como una innovación comercial desencadenó innovaciones tecnológicas a nivel de la producción (fertilización, manejo de semillas, manejo de plagas) y en la presentación comercial de la papa como producto seleccionado y con nombre de marca. Para la asociación de productores CONPAPA significó elevar sus capacidades asociativas para el acopio y comercialización, que por primera vez comercializaba papas nativas en diversas presentaciones y mediante la articulación comercial con consumidores intermedios urbanos.Si bien la marca \"Papas Nativas -Descubriendo el Sabor Andino\" no prosperó en el mercado por problemas en el abastecimiento, altos costos de transacción y limitado volumen de demanda, los resultados del EPCP fueron importantes para poner \"en vitrina\" el valor de la papa nativa en mercados distintos a los del consumo tradicional y familiar local. Estos resultados fueron captados positivamente por la empresa INALPROCES, que por varios años apostaba por productos de alta calidad con criterios de responsabilidad social. INALPROCES, inspirada por la experiencia de la Iniciativa Papa Andina del CIP sobre comercialización de papas nativas en Perú, vio en el mercado ecuatoriano y en el extranjero, interesantes posibilidades de negocio a través de la producción y venta de hojuelas fritas de color obtenidas a partir de variedades nativas.INALPROCES, en alianza con el INIAP, la Fundación Minga para la Acción Rural y la Cooperación, y el CIP en Ecuador, trabajaron en la identificación de papas nativas adecuadas para ser producidas por agricultores del CONPAPA y abastecer la demanda de procesamiento (Montesdeoca et al., 2013). Se seleccionaron 2 variedades de papa de color para producir hojuelas de calidad: Puca Shungo (Corazón Rojo) y Yana Shungo (Corazón Negro). Su característica principal es la coloración intensa en tonos rojizos y morados que las hacen ricas en antioxidantes, vitaminas y proteínas y las diferencian de las papas tradicionales. En el año 2011 salió al mercado la marca de hojuelas de color, KIWA, promovida con apoyo de la cooperación internacional como un modelo de negocio de responsabilidad social empresarial. Este modelo de negocio incluía el trabajo en colaboración con una serie de otros actores locales para mantener niveles de producción consistentes y para asegurar el suministro de semillas de calidad. El desarrollo de los chips de papas nativas Kiwa, es uno de los ejemplos de la evolución del proceso de innovación que, como observamos, continúa y evoluciona mucho después de que el EPCP haya finalizado formalmente. Esta innovación comercial ha requerido también innovaciones tecnológicas para responder a demandas del mercado. Por ejemplo, para satisfacer la demanda de semilla de las variedades utilizadas en la producción de hojuelas de Kiwa, se incluyeron estas variedades en el programa de multiplicación de semillas del invernadero de producción de semilla de alta calidad del INIAP. El caso de del producto KIWA es un ejemplo de cómo las oportunidades de mercado y el desarrollo de negocios con responsabilidad social, funcionan como fuerza impulsora para la formación y operación de alianzas público-privadas para el desarrollo rural. También existen otros retos a nivel productivo, principalmente con los cambios en el clima y las heladas en la Cordillera de los Andes ecuatorianos que afectó la producción hasta un 80% en el 2014. Se requiere seguir la selección de variedades que permitan un procesamiento de calidad. En el campo del procesamiento es necesario encontrar más opciones para usar estas papas, como el puré de papas y las papas fritas congeladas de papas nativas andinas para la exportación (Martin Acosta, CEO KIWA comunicación personal).Observamos que en el contexto macro ecuatoriano las políticas en favor del mercado no eran tan favorables como en el caso peruano. Uno de los grandes retos ha sido el incentivo al emprendimiento. A pesar de que Ecuador es uno de los países con los mayores registros de marcas e invenciones en la zona andina, el desarrollo de dichas propuestas pocas veces se convierte en negocios, se crean pocas empresas y en mucha menor medida se generan oportunidades de empleo (Wong y Padilla, 2017). Del lado de los productores se requería un sistema general de apoyo a la inversión para expandir su producción. Ninguno de los agricultores tenía acceso al crédito, más bien cuando era necesario invertían sus ahorros familiares o pedían préstamos personales.Con la participación de INALPROCESS, el producto basado en hojuelas de papas de color se ha desarrollado y expandido con presencia en los mercados nacionales e internacionales. En 2018, el producto de papa procesada representaba el 20% de las ventas de la empresa. La compañía planea expandirse principalmente en EE. UU., Medio Oriente y Europa del Este e ingresar al mercado con certificación orgánica (Martin Acosta, CEO de KIWA, comunicación personal)Las experiencias con el EPCP e intervenciones en cadenas de valor en diferentes contextos permiten identificar algunas lecciones que contribuyen a mejorar el diseño de las intervenciones para el desarrollo de cadenas de valor promoviendo la investigación y la innovación colectiva.Un elemento importante en la promoción del EPCP es la integración siempre creciente del sector agropecuario en los mercados que incrementa las oportunidades de mercado para los pequeños agricultores.Desde la situación tradicional de vender directamente a los consumidores rurales o al mercado local, las cadenas de valor modernas han abierto las puertas a otros compradores: comerciantes de mercados rurales y urbanos, empresas procesadores, comercio justo y supermercados. La implementación del EPCP, mediante la interacción de los productores con actores de la cadena y el análisis de mercados, permite identificar nichos de mercado y nuevas oportunidades comerciales donde los pequeños productores pueden desarrollar una ventaja competitiva a partir de contar con una ventaja comparativa, en este caso la biodiversidad. En la guía del usuario del EPCP (Bernet et al., 2006), hay una herramienta llamada \"filtro de impacto\" que proporciona una evaluación cualitativa rápida del impacto esperado de diferentes oportunidades de mercado en favor de los pequeños productores considerando también los objetivos sociales y ambientales. Esta herramienta permite a las organizaciones de I+D planificar y guiar las intervenciones de manera más efectiva.Un enfoque holístico como el EPCP representa una nueva forma de hacer I+D agrícola. En lugar de emprender investigaciones y luego intentar transferir los resultados a los agricultores, el enfoque congrega toda una gama de actores relevantes -incluyendo agricultores, agentes del mercado, procesadores, investigadores y proveedores de servicios-para establecer prioridades y desarrollar conjuntamente innovaciones que respondan mejor a las demandas de la cadena de valor. El enfoque para el desarrollo de cadenas de valor nos lleva a destacar la importancia que hay que dar en los debates sobre seguridad alimentaria a los componentes de postcosecha y de cadena de valor en contraste con los apoyos dirigidos solo al sector productivo. Por lo tanto, para promover la seguridad alimentaria, la eficiencia de la cadena y el manejo postcosecha merecen casi el mismo peso que los enfoques de apoyo a la producción en fincas.La facilitación del proceso EPCP. En los casos analizados se identifican tres tipos distintos de \"campeones\", que contribuyen a la facilitación del proceso, que pueden ser cruciales para la implementación exitosa del EPCP y para la integración del enfoque en las organizaciones de I+D. El primer tipo de campeón es el que coordina los grupos de trabajo e interviene en articular los procesos de innovación; el segundo tipo es un gerente / tomador de decisiones que facilita la movilización de recursos para el EPCP, además de coordinar de forma general la implementación del enfoque; el tercer tipo de campeón es un líder reconocido dentro de la cadena de mercado y que tenga buenas conexiones para la incidencia pública y de políticas. En muchos casos, las instituciones de I+D fueron responsables de introducir y facilitar el proceso de implementación de la metodología en el marco de un proyecto. Los facilitadores de EPCP deben tener habilidades de comunicación y manejo de grupos disimiles (por ejemplo, el trato con empresas privadas es fundamental) y estar dispuestos en aprender y trasmitir nuevas habilidades sobre mercadeo agrícola y procesos de innovación.Las innovaciones surgen con el tiempo y no son siempre programadas. El EPCP desencadena procesos de innovación, que a menudo continúan y evolucionan mucho después de que el EPCP ha terminado formalmente. Las innovaciones de segunda y tercera generación o lo que llamamos las imitaciones creativas suelen ser hasta más importantes que las primeras innovaciones desarrolladas durante el ejercicio EPCP. Pero este proceso requiere una inversión en servicios y mecanismos institucionales que permitan dar seguimiento y apoyar las innovaciones que surgen más allá de la vida de un proyecto específico. La falta de acompañamiento de las innovaciones en cadena puede tornarse en una limitante que reduce los alcances del proceso de innovación.El contexto de políticas. Parece ser que las políticas en favor del mercado en Perú proporcionaron un entorno más favorable para el uso del EPCP. Asimismo, en los entornos donde la pobreza es muy elevada y las condiciones de producción son adversas debido a los riesgos climáticos y el uso reducido de insumos, existen limitantes severas para la implementación de los enfoques de desarrollo de las cadenas de mercados agrícolas. Condiciones favorables para que estos enfoques prosperen, pasan por entender que las políticas deben facilitar la participación y el desarrollo de los actores privados (productores y empresas) y reducir los costos de transacción para que los negocios funcionen. El EPCP busca entre otras cosas, que tres actores claves (productores, empresas y gobierno) puedan articular objetivos y llevarlos a la práctica. Cuando se pueden reunir estas condiciones, con un componente de desarrollo de capacidades locales, se llega a facilitar procesos de innovación exitosos.Los enfoques holísticos y participativos, como el EPCP, no pueden ser fácilmente \"escalados\" o \"transferidos\". ¿Cómo se puede escalar o replicar mejor las iniciativas observadas? Para alcanzar la réplica de enfoques exitosos es importante fomentar la innovación, el aprendizaje y la difusión de experiencias. Hasta la fecha, la inversión en aprendizaje y difusión de experiencias no ha alcanzado un nivel de apoyo similar a la promoción de iniciativas prácticas en el campo.No existe una \"solución única\" para los desafíos a los que se enfrentan las cadenas de valor básicas. No existe un factor único de éxito, sino, en cada caso se necesita una combinación de intervenciones a diferentes niveles para abordar los procesos de desarrollo de cadenas de valor. Más bien, se necesita un conjunto de medidas de política, programas de desarrollo y fortalecimiento de capacidades técnicas en los actores de la cadena para facilitar los procesos de innovación y fortalecer enlaces efectivos para promover la participación de pequeños productores en los mercados en expansión. La incidencia en políticas es una variable importante para asegurar que los Estados se articulen en este proceso. El marco de políticas influye en el desarrollo de los negocios y se deben tener mecanismos de visibilidad ante los tomadores de decisiones. En Perú, se involucró directamente al sector público y se pudo contar con mecanismos de apoyo que complementaban la acción privada (de productores y empresas) y esto generó un entorno positivo que sigue hasta la fecha como base para el desarrollo competitivo.En el futuro, una investigación comparativa de las variables que influyen y determinan la adaptación de metodologías participativas como el EPCP en diferentes contextos permitiría definir mejor las condiciones de réplica, adaptación y escalamiento de dichas metodologías.El presente documento no presenta conflictos de intereses."}

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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"8105ebe686ea8b6661831211ed23dd9b","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/de7708bd-667e-4d27-9230-31766b3dc7c8/retrieve","id":"930734528"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"bcf46645-82aa-40a0-bad9-42e11a574386","content":"• One Health is the collaborative effort of multiple disciplines working locally, nationally, and globally, to address critical challenges and attain optimal health for people, domestic animals, wildlife, and our environmentOne Health Commission (http://www.onehealthcommission.org/ )• The One Health concept is a worldwide strategy for expanding interdisciplinary collaborations and communications in all aspects of health care for humans and animals. One Health Initiative (http://onehealthinitiative.com/)• One Health' is a cost-effective, sustainable, and practical approach to find solutions for problems which need holistic, multidisciplinary approaches, particularly in resource-constrained countries Background:• Eco-Health -Introduced by IDRC to the region mid of the 2000 -Regional but informal researcher network  Multidisciplinary teams• Yuanmou (CN)• Hana (VN)• Chachoengsao (TH)• Pangalengen. ID Source: Hung Nguyen, 2013Where is FBLI active? "}

main/part_2/0170450014.json

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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"bff5b3698fd99b4aad41e60bc4b33243","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/7c6b297b-4646-429b-9211-b7fd5ff731bd/retrieve","id":"-1935033930"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"694e7241-333f-4943-a66a-2b48541e834c","content":"or from Bioversity's Web site (www.bioversityinternational.org).The European Cooperative Programme for Plant Genetic Resources (ECPGR) is a collaborative programme among most European countries aimed at contributing to national, sub-regional and regional programmes in Europe to rationally and effectively conserve ex situ and in situ Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture and increase their utilization. The Programme, which is entirely financed by the member countries, is overseen by a Steering Committee composed of National Coordinators nominated by the participating countries and a number of relevant international bodies. The Coordinating Secretariat is hosted by Bioversity International. The Programme operates through nine networks in which activities are carried out through a number of permanent working groups or through ad hoc actions. The ECPGR networks deal with either groups of crops (cereals; forages; fruit; oil and protein crops; sugar, starch and fibre crops; vegetables) or general themes related to plant genetic resources (documentation and information; in situ and on-farm conservation; inter-regional cooperation). Members of the working groups and other scientists from participating countries carry out an agreed workplan with their own resources as inputs in kind to the Programme.The geographical designations employed and the presentation of material in this publication do not imply the expression of any opinion whatsoever on the part of Bioversity or the CGIAR concerning the legal status of any country, territory, city or area or its authorities, or concerning the delimitation of its frontiers or boundaries. Similarly, the texts and taxonomic definitions in these proceedings reflect the views of the respective authors and not necessarily those of the compilers or their institutions.Mention of a proprietary name does not constitute endorsement of the product and is given only for information.Aurel-Florentin Badiu, Director of Research, Romanian Ministry of Agricultural and Rural Development, presented the activities of his Department and opened the meeting.Avena Genetic Resources for Quality in Human Consumption (AVEQ) -A European project on nutritional quality in oats Christoph Germeier, AVEQ Project Coordinator, gave an overview of the project, introducing the unique qualities of oats for human health, as well as being a crop that is environmentally and agronomically friendly, even though unfortunately oat production is decreasing in all parts of the world. He explained the breeding aims for the development of technical quality traits (grain size, shape, colour, absence of hairiness and awns, groat content and dehulling efficiency) and the factors of nutritional quality (dietary fibre, antioxidants, fat, proteins and risks from mycotoxins). He then described the objectives of the project, including the characterization, evaluation and documentation of oat genetic resources, with the focus on relevant traits for the quality of oats for human consumption and for cold tolerance. The geographical distribution of field test sites and the project partners were listed. The working collection under evaluation finally consisted of 567 accessions of hexaploid cultivated oats, 46 accessions of A. strigosa, 5 accessions of A. abyssinica and 34 wild species accessions of different ploidy levels.C. Germeier outlined the workplan including field experiments, quality assays and mycotoxin analyses. A specific aim of this project was to bring the expertise of highly specialized analytical labs together with the genetic resources community in order to evaluate traits of high relevance for human welfare. He concluded with some aspects of data management and open source software development in the project and introduced a few questions which were expected to be answered by the project results: How have complex quality traits been affected by breeding and development? Do we see tradeoffs between quantity (yield), technological and nutritional quality? Can we expect interesting variability for complex quality traits in European germplasm collections, and are they related to the structure of collections in terms of taxonomy and geographical provenance?Field experiments for quality analysis -yields and technical quality Danela Murariu (Suceava Genebank, Romania) presented the field experiments carried out to harvest samples for quality analysis. These experiments were performed in seven countries (Bulgaria, Estonia, France, Italy, Poland, Romania and Sweden) on plots of 2-2.5 m 2 , with distance between rows of 12-17 cm and a density of 400 seeds/m 2 . They were planted in an augmented design of 5 blocks including 11 standard cultivars. Cultivation techniques and plant protection followed local practices, which included manual sowing and harvest. Sixteen descriptors were observed in the field. Results were shown for 2009 experiments. Winter types were recognized by little or no heading in France, Poland and Romania (BGR001 A7BM0003;DEU146 AVE 846, AVE 1016, AVE1714;GBR011 00037, 01088, 01636;FRA040 19276;POL003 PL52107;RUS001 200111466)  1 but not consistently in all countries. Diseases observed were Puccinia coronata and Erysiphe graminis in Estonia, Italy and Poland; Puccinia graminis in Bulgaria, Estonia and Italy; Fusarium sp. in Estonia and Italy; and Drechslera sp. and Septoria avenae in Estonia and Romania. Analysis of variance was 1 In this list and throughout the whole text, accessions are identified by the Institute Code according to FAO (e.g. BGR001), followed by Accession number (e.g. A7BM0003).presented for harvest data (yield, seed weight, test weight (hectolitre weight) of the standard cultivars from four locations. Main effects (site, genotype) and interaction were highly significant (P<0.001); also highly significant were the deviations from normal distribution of residuals and homogenous variances. Cultivars 'Belinda' and 'Ivory' produced high yields in all locations (Estonia, France, Poland and Romania). Maximum yield, range and differentiation of standard cultivars were highest in Poland and lowest in Romania. Average yields of modern cultivar accessions were comparable; those of obsolete cultivars were lower, especially in the high-yielding situations of Estonia and Poland. The best modern and obsolete cultivars could out-yield the standards. Yields of A. strigosa, A. abyssinica and wild species were considerably lower at all sites. Maximum 1000-seed weight (49 g for 'Ivory'), range and differentiation for standard cultivars were found in Estonia. In Romania it was the lowest (35 g for 'Ivory'), but the remaining differentiation of the standards was more pronounced for this trait compared to yield. 'Ivory' again was the superior standard cultivar everywhere. Modern cultivar accessions were comparable to the standards, obsolete cultivars on average lower. Maximum seed weights were mostly comparable, while low minimum values were found in some obsolete cultivars. A. strigosa and A. abyssinica showed considerably lower 1000-seed weight (15-20 g on average). Seed weights of A. sterilis were relatively high, those of other wild species low. Test weight was highest in Estonia, second in France, third in Romania and lowest in Poland. Each difference between countries is statistically significant. Seeds without hull of hull-less cultivars ('Saul', 'Mina') result in higher test weight than hulled seeds. For the hulled cultivars differences were not very consistent across the sites. In France, Poland and Romania some obsolete cultivars were observed with higher test weight than the standard and modern cultivars. A. abyssinica and A. strigosa had on average lower test weights, but maximum values approached those of the hexaploid oats. For wild species this trait was not determined. Very different hull contents were found in different environments. On average it was lowest in the North (Estonia 33%) and highest in the South (Italy 54%).It was noted that different environments and farming conditions made the results not fully comparable, but the project wished to verify the results under several varying local conditions.It was asked whether shedding in wild species had been a problem and D. Murariu confirmed that this was the case, but bags were used to prevent shedding and seed was harvested by hand.Michele Stanca introduced the session with some remarks on the aim of breeding which is to design plants for the future in order to ensure the production of food for life. Breeding is currently moving from ideotype breeding to crop design breeding, and it is inspired by new approaches of phenotyping and genotyping, new breeding techniques and pyramiding of traits.In a presentation introducing the Fusarium topic, Ole Winkelmann (Eurofins WEJ Contaminants, Germany) highlighted the background discussions on Fusarium mycotoxins at EU level. He introduced the different classes of toxins as trichothecenes Type A (T-2, HT-2) produced by Fusarium poae, F. sporotrichioides and F. langsethiae, trichothecenes Type B (deoxynivalenol, zearalenone) produced by F. graminearum and F. culmorum, and fumonisins B1 and B2 produced by F. verticilloides and F. proliferatum. Trichothecenes T-2 and HT-2 are of major concern, especially in oats. They are more toxic than the well-known Type B trichothecenes. According to Regulation (EC) No. 1881/2006 no maximum limits have been set for these toxins. It has been noted that more data and an agreed reference method are still needed.Fungal species which seem to be the main toxin-producers in Europe were identified as Fusarium langsethiae and F. sporotrichioides.With regard to infections of commodities, risky cereals are mainly oats, but also barley, wheat and maize. Range and type of contamination mainly depend on climatic conditions during the growth period. Raw oats are frequently highly contaminated by T-2/HT-2, but the main relevance with regard to toxin contamination is connected with the outer parts (hull). Dehulling and sorting of oats can reduce the amount of T-2/HT-2 contamination by up to 90%. High levels of T-2/HT-2 are frequently found in by-products that are used as feed ingredients. Oats for direct human consumption are usually cleaned and dehulled, therefore the level of contamination to be monitored is very different from that at the screening of raw materials. However, a possible limit at EU level will apply to unprocessed cereals.Rapid and cheap validated enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) test kits are available, but most of them determine only T-2, while determination of the sum of both toxins is needed. High-performance liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry (HPLC-MS/MS) can detect several toxins in one run but it is an expensive and timeconsuming method. There is no agreement on analytical methods. For the AVEQ project, simultaneous determinations were made of T-2, HT-2 and other contaminants by HPLC-MS/MS, in comparison with ELISA results.Matthias Herrmann (JKI, Germany) continued with a presentation on inoculum production and field experiments with artificial inoculation as part of Work Package (WP) 04 of the AVEQ project. Objectives of this WP were the field evaluation for resistance against Fusarium infection and mycotoxin contamination, and the relationship with agronomic traits under different environmental conditions across Europe. This evaluation was carried out for 350 accessions in 2008 and for 334 accessions in 2009, including wild species accessions in both years. They were grown in augmented designs, with 11 standard cultivars in 5 replications (augmented blocks) and spring wheat 'Aranka' for comparison. A control experiment without inoculation was set up with the standard cultivars in two replications. The environmental and agronomic conditions were very different at the sites in Groß Lüsewitz (Northern Germany), Kroměříž (Czech Republic), Suceava (Romania) and Fiorenzuola d'Arda (Italy). At the latter site, no artificial inoculation was carried out; only natural infestation was observed. The highly diverse material showed wide variation in agronomic traits. Correlations between sites were relatively high for highly heritable traits such as plant height and heading date. Considerable correlations were also observed for yield between Groß Lüsewitz, Kroměříž and Fiorenzuola d'Arda in 2008. Suceava and Fiorenzuola d'Arda in 2009 showed more differences in yields. A mixture of Fusarium species (F. culmorum, F. sporotrichioides, F. avenaceum, F. langsethiae and F. graminearum) was used for inoculation in most experiments. Kroměříž in 2008 used only an F. culmorum strain, which is known to be very aggressive in wheat. This strain was integrated into the inoculum mix used in 2009 in all experiments and replaced a strain which had not proved to be very aggressive. The inoculum was multiplied on autoclaved wheat (F. culmorum) or oat seed (all other species). The isolates were characterized for their mycotoxin production. It was confirmed that the inoculum contained high level producers of zearalenone, T-2 and HT-2. For the isolates multiplied for inoculation a species-specific quantitative polymerase chain reaction (QPCR) assay was designed. Inoculation was done by spraying spore suspensions for three days during flowering of the crop. Visible symptoms in the field were not generally observed, except in 2008 in Suceava, Romania, after extremely disease-conducive weather conditions. Visual scoring of damaged kernels gave only limited results. Higher infection rates could be detected with a freezing blotter test used in Groß Lüsewitz. Comparing freezing blotter results and visual scores showed an overestimation of the infection of naked seeds compared to hulled seeds by visual scoring. Obviously symptoms are more easily detected on naked seeds. Correlations of symptoms with agronomic traits were low.In conclusion, experimental screening for resistance to Fusarium among more than 600 accessions displayed genetic variability for resistance to kernel infection. The level of infection was lower in oats than in wheat. Influences of environmental conditions and genotype x environment interactions indicated that resistance testing for Fusarium needs more replications and environments. Low coefficients of correlation were registered between plant height, heading time, panicle length, plot density, lodging or other traits and Fusarium infection. Visible symptoms in the field or on seeds were not reliable methods of assay and it was concluded that mycotoxins need to be analytically determined to assess resistance to Fusarium.Ivana Polisenska (Agrotest Fyto, Czech Republic) presented the results of Fusarium and mycotoxin analysis in the samples derived from the field experiments. Target toxins analysed were mainly those of primary concern at EU level and considered by Regulation EC 1881/2006, as outlined by O. Winkelmann. The bulk of samples, 100 inoculated accessions from each of three locations (Czech Republic, Germany and Romania) and 100 non-inoculated accessions from one location (Italy) were analysed with ELISA tests with a level of detection (LOD) of 20 ppb for deoxynivalenol (DON) and of 5 ppb for T-2. These were complemented with HPLC-MS/MS analysis detecting simultaneously T-2, HT-2, DON, zearalenone (ZON), nivalenol (NIV), 3-acetyl-deoxynivalenol (3-ADON), 15-acetyldeoxynivalenol (15-ADON) and diacetoxyscirpenol (DAS), carried out by Eurofins WEJ Contaminants GmbH on inoculated and non-inoculated standard cultivars from all locations, to confirm ELISA results and add information on HT-2 and other mycotoxins. Further comparative analyses were made to harmonize the results from different labs and Fusarium species were determined by PCR. According to Regulation EC 1881/2006, analysis needs to be done with unprocessed (= not dehulled) material. This favours the detection of mycotoxins, which are mainly present in the outer part of kernels and in the hulls. In 2008 results for DON were high (up to 4000 µg/kg) in the Czech field experiment, while in the German and Romanian field experiments the limit of 1750 µg/kg was never reached. This was probably due to the use of a highly aggressive F. culmorum isolate in Czech Republic, which was added to the inoculum for all experiments in 2009. T-2 was higher in the Czech and Romanian experiments (up to 400 µg/kg and 350 µg/kg, respectively) and lower in the German field experiment (up to 200 µg/kg). Accessions with comparably low mycotoxin contents at all three inoculated locations were 'Rauhhafer aus Neustadt', an A. strigosa variety; 'Samuel', a modern German naked oat; 'Atego', 'Miku' and 'Typhon', modern varieties from the Czech Republic, Estonia and Germany respectively; 'Joanette', an old French cultivar, and 'Garton Supreme', an old British cultivar (bot. variety pugnax).Valeria Terzi (Consiglio per la Ricerca e la Sperimentazione in Agricoltura, Centro di ricerca per la genomica e la postgenomica animale e vegetale (CRA-GPG), Italy) presented results on Fusarium DNA traceability as a diagnostic tool in small grain cereals, which is used to complement mycotoxin results with data on Fusarium species representation in the oat accessions. It is based on wide genomic information available for Fusarium species (see the Fusarium Comparative Database, http://www.broadinstitute.org/annotation/genome/ fusarium_graminearum/). A number of PCR assays were selected according to their sensitivity to the strains used for inoculation in AVEQ. These were applied to inoculated and non-inoculated standard cultivars. Correlations were found between ) and between T-2 and F. sporotrichioides (0.30-0.44). Negative correlations were found between DON and the T-2 producers (-0.17 to -0.49), but not between T-2 and the DON producers, indicating higher competitiveness of T-2 producers, especially F. langsethiae. These relationships were similar for artificial or natural infestation. Low values for all species were found in naked oats ('Saul', 'Mina'), while high values were found particularly in cultivars 'Argentina' and 'Evora'. While in the oat samples all Fusarium species were equally represented, representation in the wheat 'Aranka' was highly biased to F. culmorum and F. graminearum, which resulted in low T-2, but high DON contamination. PCR results also showed the presence of F. poae, with higher presence in inoculated compared to non-inoculated samples. The possibility of diagnosis of Fusarium in the field at a very early plant growth stage was confirmed. Further applications of the PCR methodology were indicated for better understanding of the dynamics of infection, sensitive growth stages, Fusarium traceability in agro-food chains, early determination and monitoring.It was remarked that the toxic effect of the mycotoxins was the inhibition of protein production, resulting in skin problems, tooth problems and many others. It was pointed out that it would make sense to set different rules for raw vs. dehulled seeds and that discussion in this direction was ongoing at EU level.No explanation could be given for the increase of the mycotoxin problem, even though this is a rather new problem for oats and not for wheat and barley and it is weatherdependent. It was remarked that several Fusarium species are mainly seed-borne, which explains the low correlation with agronomic traits assumed to be of importance. Other Fusarium species come from infected crop debris, especially of maize. These are promoted by reduced soil tillage and higher frequency of maize cropping. Another point of interest was the performance of marginally cultivated and wild species. The wild species are currently being analysed. Resistance is considered to be under quantitative trait locus (QTL) control. A. strigosa ('Rauhhafer aus Neustadt') was found to be among the most resistant genotypes but not more resistant than the best hexaploid oats, which include some modern cultivars.Thanks to early molecular detection, it will soon be possible to monitor the health of grain fields for that particular disease during the season and to monitor the use of fungicides.The session on oat nutritional quality was introduced by Lena Dimberg (Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, SLU). The health benefits of oats relate to a metabolic syndrome caused by oxidative stress, high triglyceride acid and cholesterol levels and obesity, in turn related to fat cells, insulin resistance and glucose/insulin imbalance. These \"western diseases\" risk factors lead to chronic inflammation, hypertension, diabetes Type II and coronary vascular diseases. Oats, besides starch and energy, have high contents of vitamins (B and E), minerals, a high protein content of the globulin type with well-balanced aminoacid composition, sufficient lysin and no gluten, a high lipid content with 80% of unsaturated fatty acids, which decrease LDL-cholesterol and increase HDL-cholesterol, a high content of dietary fibre and high content of bioactive phytochemicals. The high content of soluble β-glucan within the dietary fibre is unique for oats and barley. While lipids are spread all over the kernel including the endosperm, vitamins, anti-oxidants and β-glucan are mainly in the aleurone and subaleurone layers. The health effects due to β-glucan have been considered the most important. They are related to its viscosity and are thought to work as follows: weight control against obesity is achieved through the encapsulation of fat and sugar resulting in less energy supply, bulky filling of the intestine and feelings of satiety, inhibited constipation and low glycemic index. Further effects are the improved glucose/insulin balance by lower absorption of glucose, improved insulin sensitivity and decreased blood cholesterol level by excretion of bile acids. Forming a dietary complex with attached bioactive components like anti-oxidants, the β-glucan may also decrease the development of colon cancer by dilution and binding of carcinogenic agents and decreasing pH. On the other hand it may cause energy and nutrient deficiencies, dehydration and gas production, which is of major concern in animal feeding. Oxidative stress is caused by a surplus of free radicals. They destroy the arterial wall and induce repair mechanisms by cell proliferation, migration, accumulation and attachment, finally leading to plaque formation and the danger of infarct (heart attack). Anti-oxidants in oats such as tocopherols, tocotrienols, hydroxycinnamic acids and avenanthramides protect from free radicals. Avenanthramides are anti-oxidative substances unique to oats. They were recently discovered. Thirteen different types are known. They have anti-oxidant, anti-inflammatory, anti-arteriosclerotic and anti-cancer effects, acting chemically as hydrogen donors, radical scavengers, metal ion chelators and lipogenase inhibitors, thereby inhibiting LDL oxidation and formation of pro-inflammatory compounds. Because of these anti-inflammatory effects, oats have long been used for skin disorders and in anti-ageing treatments. Antiarteriosclerotic effects are assumed from inhibited proliferation of vascular smooth muscle cells, decreased cell adhesion and reduced release of adhesion molecules. This is also indicated by the similarity of avenanthramides to Tranilast metabolites. Tranilast is an antiallergic and anti-proliferative drug. Anti-cancer effects are also assumed from inhibited cell proliferation. In summary, oats decrease the risk of the metabolic syndrome probably thanks to a dietary complex of soluble β-glucan and bioactive compounds.Jean Koenig (Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique (INRA), France) presented the status of WP 06 on protein and oil contents, micronutrients and avenins. Near Infrared Spectra analysis (NIRS) and calibration analysis are still ongoing, as well as micronutrient analysis. Results were presented for avenin patterns. Avenins are storage proteins similar to glutenins and their polymorphism can be used by acid polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (PAGE) for the analysis of relationships between Avena genotypes. Three loci have been described: Ave1 with 5 alleles related to the A genome, Ave2 with 6 alleles (B genome) and Ave3 with 10 alleles (D-genome). The avenin analysis revealed heterogeneity in 22.4% of the accessions used in AVEQ. The loci were represented with different frequency. Nearly 30% of the accessions had alleles of all three loci. Different alleles were unevenly distributed, with one or two alleles dominating with 30-50% frequency.Rita Redaelli (Consiglio per la Ricerca e la Sperimentazione in Agricoltura, Unita di Ricerca per la Maiscoltura (CRA-MAC), Italy) presented results of β-glucan and fibre analysis. For three sites representing the whole range of Europe from North to South (Estonia, Poland, Bulgaria samples from 2008; Sweden, France, Romania samples from 2009), quality analyses were performed comprising total β-glucan analysis for all samples and soluble β-glucan, fibre, starch and anti-oxidants for a selected set of 70 samples (in total 210 analyses). The harvest material from 2008 contained 247-259 accessions (depending on availability of sufficient harvest material for analysis) and 55 standard samples. Seventy accessions were selected for a diversity analysis based on NIRS data from one site provided by WP 06. All species available were represented. The selected sample set contained 59 hexaploid oats, 5 A. strigosa accessions, 1 accession of A. abyssinica and 1 accession each of the wild species A. barbata, A. damascena, A. fatua, A. hirtula, A. sterilis and A. wiestii. Data from Bulgarian and Estonian samples were presented. To include replicated standards into the analysis set the number of accessions was reduced to 59. Standard methodology was used to determine total, insoluble and soluble fractions of β-glucan. Results showed ranges of 2.36-5.36% dry matter (dm) total and 1.17-4.25% (dm) soluble β-glucan. The soluble fraction represents 47.6-82.4% of total β-glucan in samples of cultivated species from Estonia and Bulgaria. Genotype effects and the interaction of genotype x location were significant at 0.01 probability level, location effects only at 0.05 level. Wild species from the Estonian and Polish field experiments were in a similar range. Extraordinary high levels were found in A. wiestii (AVE 2781: 6.76% total and 5.23% soluble β-glucan) and in A. damascena (PL 52345: 6.77% total and 5.29% soluble β-glucan). Standard cultivars ranged from 2.92% ('Ivory') to 4.44% ('Auteuil') total β-glucan. 'Belinda' (4.08%) and the naked cultivar 'Mina' (4.38%) were comparably high. Results are being used for a NIRS calibration on β-glucan. Predictability of β-glucan by NIRS is still low.Danuta Boros (Plant Breeding and Acclimatization Institute (IHAR), Poland) presented further results on carbohydrates: starch detected with the amylase methods (ICC Standards No. 128/1 and 168) and dietary fibre analysed with the Uppsala method (AOAC 994.13), a combination of methods for non-starch polysaccharides (NPS), uronic acid and Klason lignin. Results were presented for 60 samples of cultivated oats from Bulgarian and Estonian field experiments, 53 additional samples of standard cultivars grown in Estonia, 2 wild accession samples from Estonia and 6 from Poland. Starch content ranged from 49 to 65%, total dietary fibre from 9 to 18%. The largest amount of total dietary fibre is NPS, followed by a variable amount of lignin, possibly caused by insufficient dehulling and a very small fraction of uronic acids. The NPS form the dietary fibre. Its hemicellulosic fraction is formed to the extent of about 50% by β-glucan. High contents of total dietary fibre (NPS>10%) were observed (i) in the Bulgarian experiment for old cultivars or landraces from Poland ('Pulawski Sredniorychly' POL001 PL 50406), France ('Noire Semi Nuda Orientalis' FRA040 19300), Czech Republic ('Irbit' CZE047 03C0700006), and for 'Jaugila', a modern Lithuanian cultivar (LTU001 25); (ii) in the Estonian experiment for A. barbata, A. sterilis and A. hybrida (DEU 146 AVE 586, AVE 446 and AVE 1426 respectively) and for AVE 544 (A. sativa var. macrantha from Greece). All wild species samples from Poland (AVE 1426, AVE 1758, AVE 2671, AVE 2804, AVE 2781 and PL 52345) contained more than 10% NPS, the highest contents were found again for AVE 2781 (A. wiestii) and PL 52345 (A. damascena) already mentioned in relation to β-glucan. They have around 15% NPS and around 20% total dietary fibre. The starch content was reduced to 41-44% in these samples. Starch contents in standard cultivars ranged from 57 to 63%, both extremes represented by naked oats ('Mina' and 'Saul' respectively).Lena Dimberg (SLU, Sweden) presented results on avenanthramides in Avena genetic resources. Samples to be analysed were the same 70 accessions as those selected for carbohydrate and fibre analyses. Avenanthramides were found in all samples. In samples from the Bulgarian field experiment contents ranged from 90 to 3870 mg/kg. Highest contents -higher than ever seen by L. Dimberg (from 6000 to 13 000 nmol/g = 3870 mg/kg), were expressed by four accessions of A. strigosa. A fifth A. strigosa accession gave results within the bulk of accessions but was still among those with relatively high contents. Twenty modern oat cultivars ranged from 337 to 4947 nmol/g and on average were not significantly different from 36 obsolete cultivar accessions (313-3013 nmol/g). Significant negative correlations (-0.34 to -0.43) were found between avenanthramides, yield, seed and test weights. No significant correlations were observed between avenanthramides and husk content and other chemical quality traits (starch, β-glucan, preliminary protein and fat data based on a standard calibration at partner P02 (Svalöf Weibull AB). Avenanthramide contents for most of the analysed wild species accessions were comparably high (A. fatua: 1119 and 600, A. hybrida 894, A. sterilis 860, A. wiestii 674, A. damascena 640 mg/kg), while another A. fatua and an A. barbata accession showed comparably low contents (244 and 171 mg/kg respectively). Estonian samples showed lower extremes but confirmed high contents for two A. strigosa accessions. High variability between years can be expected from earlier results, which have been produced in Sweden with various oat cultivars, but at much lower levels (5-150 mg/kg). It is known that avenanthramides play a role as phytoalexins in crown rust resistance. Thus it was considered interesting to compare non-inoculated and inoculated standard samples from the Fusarium experiments. On average significantly higher content could be found in inoculated compared to non-inoculated plots. The range was different for the different cultivars. Generally high content of avenanthramides (in inoculated and non-inoculated plots) were found in cultivars 'Argentina' and 'Evora' for which PCR results had shown high presence of Fusarium species. The highest response to inoculation was shown by 'Saul', one of the naked oat cultivars for which PCR showed low presence of Fusarium species. This indicates some relation between avenanthramides and interaction with Fusarium, but not a simple one. Consequently no consistent or significant correlation between avenanthramides and DON contamination could be found.Rita Redaelli (CRA-MAC, Italy) concluded the session on nutritional quality with results on tocols. Like avenanthramides, these are anti-oxidant agents and considered to be Vitamin E. The method of analysis used is an accelerated procedure of normal-phase highperformance liquid chromatography (NP-HPLC) developed at CRA-MAC in 2004. Four different types of tocopherols and tocotrienols were determined. Accessions from Bulgaria and Estonia were analysed and higher contents of tocopherols and tocotrienols than expected were found, higher in Bulgarian samples than in Estonian samples. Among the wild accessions, high quantities were found in A. barbata and A. strigosa.With regard to β-glucan in chicken feeding, the comparison was made with barley, which contains 8-10% β-glucan and resistant starch (waxy mutants not attacked by amylases). High β-glucan or highly resistant starch mutants that could reduce the glycemic index are not known in Avena, but it should be possible to find them.Regarding tocols, it was remarked that the γ-tocoferols would be of highest nutritional value, but Avena does not contain them, since it has the same tocols as wheat.Background: Cold tolerance in oats -state of the art Session four on frost tolerance was introduced by Michele Stanca (Department of Agricultural and Food Sciences, University of Modena and Reggio Emilia, Italy) with a presentation on improvement of cold tolerance in oats to design the plant for the future.Winter hardiness is a complex of many quantitative traits including frost resistance, vernalization requirement and photoperiod reaction. To increase grain yield, oats should be shifted from spring to winter types. About 30% yield increase is expected from winter oats, but in 90% of the growing region winter oats are damaged by frost stress. Until now field selection has been dominated by breeding spring oats. Fast physiological tests have been recently developed. Techniques available for use are germplasm evaluation, updated agronomic techniques, traditional breeding integrated with physiological tests, analysis of phenotypic and genotypic responses with the aid of marker-assisted selection, plant transformation and molecular dissection of stress traits. An incremental association mapping approach of different population types (cultivars, landraces and wild types) was explained. Several physiological agents are involved in cold tolerance, e.g. osmoprotection by glycine betaine, mannitol, trehalose, proline or fructane. The plants can protect themselves from a cold stress by eliciting a very fast molecular reaction. This consists in an activation of molecular mechanisms (signal perception and transduction), identification of gene products (transcription) and gene expression (production and accumulation of stress-related molecules -functional and regulatory proteins). Plant breeding for stress resistance uses physiological tests that can simulate the stress event, together with molecular markers associated to resistance traits. Dehydration is a common factor of drought and cold stress and an electrolyte test can detect membrane disruption. The chloroplast with chlorophyllxanthophyll is the first transmitter of events in plants. A rapid, reliable, sensitive and nondestructive photosystem test has been developed, based on chlorophyll fluorescence during hardening (4 weeks at 1-3°C) and after freezing. It can be shown that during acclimatization new proteins are formed and allocated to different parts of the plant. These processes can be followed also with expressed sequence tag (EST) sequences from cold-acclimatized oat -9792 sequences have been described, about 450 of these are specific to oats. Fifty-one transcription and four core binding factors (CBF) regulated by cold acclimatization are considered of special importance. Oats CBF and barley CBF correspond and synteny has also been found in Triticum monococcum and bread wheat. An oat biochip (microarray technique) is now available and revealed 400 simple sequence repeat (SSR) markers. During acclimatization 1500 genes are activated, most of which are located in the chloroplast. Based on this knowledge, numerous new breeding approaches can be used in order to create the plant for the future through pyramiding of appropriate transcriptional factors. De novo recombination, dynamization of the genome by transposons and methylation, gene expression regulation, transcriptional factors and useful gene functions up to artificial chromosomes and micro-RNA techniques could be used.Nadeshda Antonova (Institute for Plant Genetic Resources \"K. Malkov\" (IPGR), Bulgaria) presented field results on frost tolerance in the AVEQ project. Field experiments were set up in Bulgaria and Italy in winters 2008-09 and 2009-10 with 11 standards and 317 and 309 accessions, respectively (excluding wild species). In Italy the 2008-09 experiment was repeated in 2009-10 because of unfavourable weather conditions in the first year. However, in the second year also, conditions in Italy were not severe enough to select frost-tolerant accessions. Romania then offered to set up additional experiments with selected accessions (104 in 2009-10). While in Sadovo, Bulgaria, average temperatures during winter months remain close to 0°C, they can be lower than -5°C on average with minimum temperatures below -30°C in Suceava, Romania . Only a few plants of most accessions survived these conditions. The most frost-tolerant accessions were a local type from Iceland (RUS001 200113379: 25 plants survived out of 50), a breeding line from Bulgaria (BGR001 A7BM0005: 17), some modern cultivars from United Kingdom ('Millenium': 11) and Italy ('Donata': 9 and 'Ava': 8, the standards 'Genziana': 5 and 'Argentina': 4), an A. strigosa accession (BGR001 BGR 7982: 7) and a Hungarian cultivar ('Gagybatory K Tajfajta': 6 survivors). The two different methods that were used to score accessions in the Bulgarian field gave contradictory results, comparing years 2008-09 and 2009-10. Autumn 2008-09 was very dry in Bulgaria. It allowed no hardening and, in addition, deep snow cover during January distressed the plants, resulting in high damage and mortality for the majority of accessions (ca. 180). In winter 2009-10 most accessions were only slightly to moderately damaged. During January 2010, the radiation temperature in Sadovo went down to -21°C, causing sensitive leaf damage. Correlation of the two types of scores was low in 2008-09 and high in 2009-10. Accessions slightly to moderately damaged according to both scores in Bulgaria in 2008-09 were the Bulgarian breeding line 'Ava' and the A. strigosa accession, confirming the results from Romania, along with a cultivar from Moldova ('Chernosemyannyi'). In 2009-10 they included Bulgarian winter cultivars 'Dulo' and 'Kaloian' and breeding lines, along with some accessions from the John Innes Centre (UK) ('Feltwell', 'Penrhyn', 'Beljska 200' and 'Luilbreg' from Yugoslavia). Negative correlations were found between cold tolerance and number of panicles and days to heading.Fulvia Rizza (CRA-GPG, Italy) presented results from the laboratory tests for frost tolerance. The test is associated with a hardening process at low non-frost temperatures. During the test, a hardening treatment at 1-3°C is applied over three weeks. Hardened plants are subject to freezing at -10 to -13°C. The tests consist in measurements of chlorophyll fluorescence, which responds to changes in PSII photochemistry and therefore represents a convenient and rapid tool to evaluate the functioning of the photosynthetic machinery at low temperature. About 100 accessions were tested in 2008 and 2009. The most tolerant accessions in the first set were a Romanian breeding line, a local type from Iceland, and cultivars 'Donata', 'Gagybatory K Tajfajta' and 'Millenium', confirming the above-mentioned field results and, additionally, cultivars 'Kinelskjj', 'Vendelin', 'Lüneburger Kley Neue Zucht', 'Novella Antonia' and local types from Russia and Greece (RUS001 200107910 and 200111655). Correlations were significant (0.447**) with field results under severe frost conditions in Romania, lower with results in Bulgaria under less severe conditions (0.224*) scored by the methodology suggested by Rizza et al. (2001) 2 and not significant with results of the traditional IBPGR (1985) 3 scoring method. In the second set, Bulgarian cultivars ('Dulo' and 'Kaloian'), breeding lines (A7BM006, BGR 24983), 'Beljska 200' and 'Luilbreg', and the standard cultivar 'Argentina' were confirmed to be frost-tolerant. Additionally, 'Cimarron', 'Evora', 'Kulsovati B' and 'La Gaillarde' were identified as frost-tolerant. Correlation with the Bulgarian field data was higher (0.476**) than in the previous year. The session was opened by Andreas Katsiotis, presenting the Chairperson's report. He explained that the activities in the Avena Working Group were largely determined by the EU GEN RES projects AVEQ and AEGRO. 4 Jointly with the latter project, prospection and collecting trips to Cyprus, Italy and Spain were organized. A further collecting trip to Spain had been funded by ECPGR in 2007. The priorities, as set at the Avena WG session during the Cereals Network meeting in Foça, Turkey (2008) 5 , were: 1. Task sharing and capacity building, especially regarding the status of wild species accessions in genebanks and procedures for their regeneration; 2. Characterization and evaluation as carried out in the framework of the AVEQ project; 3. Generation of information to support in situ conservation as done in the AEGRO project; 4. Documentation.Lorenzo Maggioni continued with an update on ECPGR. The Programme is currently in its Phase VIII (2009)(2010)(2011)(2012)(2013), with a budget of €2.76 million, of which the Network operations funds (€1.46 million) should be used for meetings (75%) or actions (25%). It is currently owned by 43 member countries contributing funds, implementing activities and coordinating national programmes within their countries. Two new Working Groups have been founded within the In situ and On-farm Conservation Network, making up a total of 20 Working Groups. A new publication strategy has been decided: meeting reports as books with articles are no longer printed. They are now presented as electronic documents containing the minutes. There will be no interference in the management of Networks' workplans, including prioritizing or not prioritizing Working Groups.L. Maggioni further reported on the Independent External Review of ECPGR, which was completed in July 2010. The Review Panel consisted of Thomas Gass, Marianne Lefort and Orlando de Ponti. The Review resulted in 25 recommendations, which were distributed to all National Coordinators. Main recommendations were as follows: objectives should be more accountable; ECPGR should become a legal entity; an executive committee with a president, two vice-presidents and an executive director should be established; the perceived duplication and competition between the European Plant Genetic Resources Catalogue (or European Internet Search Catalogue, EURISCO) and the Central Crop Databases (CCDBs) should be resolved; characterization and evaluation (C&E) data should be included in EURISCO; in situ and on-farm activities should be integrated into AEGIS. Triggered by the External Review, the mid-term Steering Committee meeting will be advanced to December 2010 to agree on a transition roadmap.L. Maggioni concluded his presentation with an update on EURISCO, which is developed by Bioversity International on behalf of the ECPGR. EURISCO currently contains passport data on more than one million accessions from 41 countries, including 34 069 Avena accessions. As a service to the International Treaty, EURISCO registers accessions for the multilateral system (MLS) and for standard material transfer agreement (SMTA) reporting (currently 210 755 accessions). He presented a picture of a global infrastructure with the global information system according to Art. 17 of the International Treaty (http://www.genesys-pgr.org/), including the System-wide Information Network for Genetic Resources (SINGER) of the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research, EURISCO and the Germplasm Resources Information Network (GRIN, USA) covering information at regional level, and the National Inventories providing national level information, as a compilation of institutional databases. The CCDBs were not mentioned in this picture.L. Maggioni also mentioned the concept developed by the ECPGR Documentation and Information Network of including C&E data into EURISCO, to provide information on experiment, trait, genotype and a score.The available budget of the Cereals Network, to which the Avena WG belongs, is €104 725 (90 500 for meetings). Further meetings of relevance for the Avena WG will be one meeting on capacity building for conservation of precise genetic stocks, and an AEGIS meeting for Avena.Olivier Diana (DG Agriculture and Rural Development, European Commission) continued with a presentation on the EU policy context and perspectives for plant genetic resources conservation and use. He mentioned the Göteborg declaration ( 2001) and the Biodiversity Action Plan ( 2006), which aimed to halt loss of biodiversity until 2010. This aim was not achieved. A new EU Biodiversity Strategy ( 2010) is now under construction. In the field of genetic resources a main focus in future will be on climate change. A principle of the engagement by the EC is co-funding. For genetic resources as part of the Biodiversity Action Plan, policies on agriculture, environment, regions, development, research technology development, and plant health legislation are relevant. The two GEN RES community programmes have been recognized as the most relevant up to now. It will be important to integrate agricultural and research policies. According to land use statistics, agriculture is of high importance for biodiversity in Europe. Major threats are intensification and marginalization (land abandonment). The Environmental Integration Strategy (1999) aims at integrating environment policy into the Community Agricultural Policy (CAP). Pillar I of the CAP (market and income policy) demands respect of basic requirements (cross compliance) while Pillar II of the CAP (Rural Development Policy 2007-2013, €42.5 billion available for Axis 2 on Environment and Land management) encourages the provision of environmental public goods by incentive measures. Challenges for CAP post-2013 will be food security (including food quality), ecosystem services, development in rural areas and monitoring indicators.O. Diana recommended a better use of opportunities given by Rural Development Regulation 1974/2006 (cf. Articles 39(1), 39(4), Article 27(4)) and Regulation 1638/2005 (Articles 39(5), 28 (3)). These opportunities can allow for operating at national and regional levels. Examples of successful use were mentioned for Italy (Sicily), Hungary and Portugal. Proposals are submitted to the Rural Development Network via a National Contact Point. Another option would be to apply to the Seventh Framework Programme (FP7) for research activities. Several plant projects have already been successful: Solibam (\"Strategies for organic and low-input integrated breeding and management\" in wheat, barley, maize and vegetables) supported with €6 million, PGRSecure (\"Novel characterisation of crop wild relative and landrace resources\") supported with €3 million, and Fruit Breedomics (€6 million). An option, especially for database development, would be to apply to the FP7 programme to improve infrastructure capacities. Life+ as a funding instrument for the environment could also be an option. Another field of importance for genetic resources is the legislation on marketing of conservation varieties by Commission Directives 2008/62/EC, 2009/145/EC and 2010/60/EC. There is an ongoing impact assessment until the end of 2010 for a review of this legislation. Finally, O. Diana made some comments on the GEN RES programme, which had 17 plant and 4 animal projects in the first programme co-funded with €9 million, 12 plant and 5 animal projects in the second programme with €10 million. The aim is also to develop synergies between the different actions and to improve communication between the scientific community and national authorities (e.g. in the GEN RES Committee meetings). After closure of the 17 actions and an evaluation by independent experts, it will be a political decision, whether a third programme will be set up. In future more emphasis should be focussed on the analysis of diversity at plant, crop and agro-ecosystem levels, phenotypic and genotypic characterization, conservation and documentation, links with breeding activities, awareness and communication policies.G. Ladizinsky asked which programme would be appropriate for protecting an agroecosystem in favour of A. murphyi in Spain. O. Diana responded that this would be possible through the Rural Development Programme. The first step would be to access the national Ministry in charge of the Rural Development Programme. Of course this issue could compete with other issues as the total budget for rural development is limited for each country.An account of the in situ AEGRO project: Wild species prospection in Cyprus, Sicily and Spain Andreas Katsiotis gave an overview of the in situ AEGRO project, which included prospecting for wild species in Cyprus, Sicily and Spain. The crop case study for Avena in AEGRO has to prioritize species and populations, to identify sites suited for the establishment of genetic reserves and to develop guidelines for management and monitoring of genetic reserves. The methodology used was taxon delineation, selection of target taxa, ecogeographic diversity analysis and selection of target sites.Species prioritization was based on actual or potential use, considering the genepool concept, and on threat or distribution. Species within the primary genepool are common weeds (A. sterilis, A. fatua) and are not considered under threat. Thus species were selected from the secondary (A. murphyi, A. insularis) and tertiary (A. hirtula, A. longiglumis, A. prostrata, A. ventricosa) genepools. A. ventricosa is considered to be the donor of the C genome of cultivated oats. The relationships of these species were shown using molecular markers. They are distributed over the South European and North African Mediterranean.Sites selected for prospection were: (i) Cyprus and Crete, where it was expected to find A. ventricosa and A. hirtula; (ii) Sicily, where A. insularis was expected; (iii) South East Spain for A. prostrata and (iv) South West Spain (Andalucia) for A. murphyi, A. longiglumis and A. hirtula.In Cyprus A. hirtula and A. ventricosa, together with A. eriantha were found in areas protected in the Natura 2000 framework or by the Forestry Department. In Sicily the Lago Columelli district, where A. insularis is found, is now protected by the Forestry Department. In Andalucia A. murphyi was found in meadows, mostly as a few plants at the edges of the fields. In one field A. murphyi was abundant. It was found that the farmer deliberately brings his cows there only after June to protect this species, which he considers valuable for the nutrition of his animals. A. longiglumis and A. hirtula were found in the National Park of Donana.G. Ladizinsky commented that in situ conservation is the best way to go, but many sites are needed to conserve all the genetic diversity. In Cyprus an ideal situation was found, with the presence of A. ventricosa in different protected ecosystems. The situation is different in the other countries, where there is lack of awareness. In Sicily, pine trees were planted at the A. insularis site; this will result in the loss of the A. insularis habitat. The situation is even worse in Spain, where A. murphyi has vanished, except for plots in hilly areas where the grazing regime can make a difference. The management and monitoring of the grazing regime, with incentives being offered to farmers to comply with the instructions, would be beneficial to all.The situation of wild species collections at IBERS Tim Langdon (Institute of Biological, Environmental and Rural Sciences (IBERS), UK) presented an update on the wild species collection formerly curated by Mike Leggett and some additional information about oat work in Aberystwyth. Oat breeding, with field books and records dating back to 1919, continues with a focus on winter oats. Uncatalogued historic material in cold storage (e.g. landraces from Gatersleben) is catalogued on an ad hoc basis as funds allow. Of primary interest to ECPGR is the material collected by M. Leggett in Morocco, Spain and the Canary Islands, the Canadian A. sterilis accessions, and accessions used in European projects. Species lists show that the main contributions are to A. agadiriana (19 accessions), A. atlantica (10), A. canariensis (20), A. hirtula (16), A. longiglumis (10), A. magna (15), A. murphyi (14), A. prostrata (8) and crosses A. sativa x A. macrostachya (19). The numbers of accessions may be underestimated because they may represent populations. Extensive studies have been made with A. canariensis collected in 1985 on Lanzarote and Fuerteventura (Canary Islands) to analyse the sympatric speciation under way, cytomixis and populationspecific reciprocal translocations, and isozyme polymorphism. High variability for agronomically interesting traits (e.g. lipids) was found in wild species of all ploidy levels. Today the phylogeny of wild species is used to prospect for candidate genes, and diversity screens are made with SSRs. The dynamics of mobile elements in the evolution of wild species genomes could be exploited as markers for hybridization, introgression and geographic origin. A mapping population has been created from a cross A. strigosa x A. atlantica -a comparatively simple diploid system in Avena for phenotyping and genotyping.The QUOATS project (\"Harnessing new technologies for sustainable oat production and utilisation\") was mentioned. This £5 million-project, sponsored at 50/50 by private and public funds, aims to develop genomic tools and resources in Avena during five years (2009-14) (www.quoats.org).Gideon Ladizinsky (Faculty of Agriculture, Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Israel) presented his project on domestication of Avena magna. This tetraploid wild species, occurring in Morocco, has very high protein content (25-31%) associated with large kernel size and tolerance to the dry conditions of Morocco. After difficulties with introgressing these interesting traits into A. sativa, he decided to try transferring the domestication syndrome from A. sativa into A. magna. During the last 20 years 5 hybridization/backcrossing cycles have been made and a form acceptable as a domesticated type is now available, but with lower protein content. This is now being back-crossed with the wild type to achieve higher protein contents again. About 1000 F2 progeny strains are available. G. Ladizinsky was seeking a successor to continue this work in the long term. In the short term he was seeking some support for the protein analysis in the progeny.A. Diederichsen (Plant Gene Resources of Canada (PGRC); now at the Nordic Genetic Resource Center (NordGen), Alnarp, Sweden) gave an introduction on handling of wild Avena species in the Canadian Genebank. PGRC holds about 27 000 Avena accessions with nearly 11 500 accessions of A. sterilis, 2100 accessions of A. barbata, 581 A. fatua and 1485 accessions of 24 other wild Avena species. During collecting missions in the 1960s-70s by B. Baum in the Mediterranean and Near East, a comprehensive collection of wild species (24% of the collection) has been built with the aim of using it for crown rust resistance programmes. In A. sterilis 90 resistance genes have been found. The applied strategy of vertical resistance required extensive use of this wild germplasm. The collection was declared a World Base Collection for Avena by the International Board for Plant Genetic Resources (IBPGR, now Bioversity International), and duplications from several genebanks were added into the active collection. Currently world genebanks preserve about 20 000 wild accessions, of which over 15 600 are in the Canadian genebank. A. Diederichsen highlighted some of the taxonomic problems. In the case of the diploid level, 16 species could be lumped to 6 based on genome information; at the tetraploid level it was possible to reduce from 8 to 6, and at the hexaploid level from 8 to 1 species. Since 1998, 4800 accessions have been regenerated in the field and 3180 in the greenhouse. Wild species need to be covered with perforated bags after panicle emergence. In the field they were surrounded by a shelter of sunflower or maize. Main problems of regeneration in Saskatoon are overwintering (A. macrostachya), too late flowering and maturity in diploid and most tetraploid species, and high costs for greenhouse regeneration. On the other hand, danger for establishment as a weed is limited to A. fatua. A reference set has been created for managing the oat collection, consisting of herbarium sheets, seed herbarium, photographs of diagnostic traits of two accessions for each taxon, verified by chromosome counting. In summary, A. Diederichsen noted that oats is a crop in decline; no international research centre has a mandate for it, which strengthens the importance of national genebanks for this crop. Centres of diversity do not overlap with present cultivation areas, which makes it difficult to motivate the countries on the importance of wild genetic resources diversity preservation. The species identification can also be challenging and it is important to agree on a common language regarding taxonomy, identification and nomenclature.It was clarified that unique material in the collection will be prioritized for duplication at the Svalbard Seed Vault. Herbarium sheets are only taken at taxon level, but the German genebank (Leibniz Institute of Plant Genetics and Crop Plant Research (IPK), Gatersleben) conserves herbarium samples for each accession.Zofia Bulinska (IHAR, Poland) presented the work done on the working collection for the AVEQ project. The plan had been to incorporate 100 wild species accessions, 200 landraces, 200 obsolete and 100 modern cultivars into the working collection. Seventy of these accessions should have been selected from the results of the previous project (GEN RES CT 99106). All other accessions were selected from passport data in an attempt to maximize diversity by equal representation of European countries in a broad sense, by using available information on the time of acquisition, collecting and registration, by including different botanical varieties, and geographical information (latitude, longitude, altitude) with a special emphasis on higher elevations to promote inclusion of frost-tolerant types. This approach, based on passport data, favours accessions with the more complete passport information. From the total 1433 accessions selected for the working collection and ordered from the holding genebanks or breeders, 897 were received. Of these, 652 were multiplied in sufficient quantity for the field experiments. Acquisition of accessions was most difficult for the wild species. Comparison of numbers of wild species accessions in the European Avena Database (EADB) (containing old accession data) and EURISCO (limited to accessions reported by National Inventories) already showed that many wild species accessions reported in the past were probably no longer available. Finally, 67 accessions of 10 species could be acquired -about half of those from the primary hexaploid genepool (A. fatua and A. sterilis). Of marginally cultivated A. strigosa and A. abyssinica, 61 and 9 accessions were received, respectively. Of hexaploid cultivated oats, 758 accessions were received. Of the wild species only 34 accessions of 8 species (A. canariensis, A. damascena, A. hirtula, A. wiestii, A. barbata, A. fatua, A. hybrida and A. sterilis) could be multiplied to sufficient amounts for the field experiments. From cultivated species, 5 accessions of A. abyssinica, 46 of A. strigosa, 24 of A. byzantina and 543 of A. sativa went into evaluation. The accessions originate from 49 countries. Equal representation of countries was not achieved. Some countries with longer histories of oat breeding or collecting were more represented in the final collection used for evaluation (Poland 76 accessions, Spain 71, France 61, Germany 58 and United Kingdom 57). The Nordic countries (Denmark, Iceland, Finland, Norway and Sweden) are represented altogether with 77 accessions. Accessions with non-European origin mainly represent wild species. While 17 accessions date back to before 1900, 52 are from 1900-1930, 110 from 1930-60, 172 from 1960-90, and 147 were registered after 1990 (modern material). A total of 126 commercial cultivars were acquired from breeders in Austria, Czech Republic, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Italy, Lithuania, Poland, Romania, Spain, Sweden and United Kingdom. Multiplication was performed at three sites (in France, Germany and Poland), and accessions were sown in rows spaced 25 cm apart with low seed density to maximize multiplication rates. Plant protection was oriented towards production of disease-free seeds, especially free from Fusarium. Seed cleaning procedures varied according to the different institutes. This had much influence on yield and germinability and some compromises had to be made to get sufficient seed from such a diverse set of accessions. Multiplication rates (number of seeds harvested from a single plant) were determined in Germany. They ranged from 63 to 285 for hexaploid oats, from 116 to 291 for A. strigosa and from 70 to 132 for A. abyssinica. Wild species gave very different results. A. barbata, A. damascena and A. fatua showed comparably high multiplication rates (34-134), while A. wiestii and A. canariensis remained below 50 seeds/plant. The rest of the species were in between.Zofia Bulinska continued with a presentation on regeneration protocols for wild Avena species in Europe, especially referring to the Polish genebank practice. In Radzików 96 accessions of wild species are conserved, including A. sterilis (37 accessions), A. fatua (20), A. macrostachya (10), A. damascena (9), A. insularis (7), A. hirtula (6), A. longiglumis (3), A. barbata (3) and A. atlantica (1). Of these, 500-1000 seeds should be always available. Seeds which do not require vernalization are sown manually at the beginning of April (400 seeds/m 2 ). Seeds with vernalization requirement are treated with fungicide (Funaben T) and are pre-germinated in Petri dishes for 5-10 days at 20°C. For vernalization, the germinated seeds are placed in filter paper with plastic foil at 4°C for 42 days. The vernalized plantlets are planted at the beginning of April under plastic tunnels or in pots. Panicles are covered with plastic bags after heading. Seeds are harvested manually, dried down first to 15% moisture content, and after cleaning to 4-6% for storing.A discussion started on quality standards for wild species. G. Ladizinsky reminded the Group that the collecting standard is to collect seeds from a minimum of 50 plants (1 spikelet per plant, 50-100 seeds) to ensure at least representation of common alleles with more than 5% frequency. From the point of view of a collector this would be the minimum number of seeds to start regeneration. G. Ladizinsky suggested keeping the harvest from each plant separate and to compose each accession of 50 sub-accessions (potentially 50 different genotypes). An accession would then represent a collecting site. In this way the danger of selection would be reduced and the diversity maximized. Genebank curators thought that it would not be feasible to keep accessions from individual plants and that in reality accessions in genebanks are a mixture of various genotypes.Regarding the improvement of germination, G. Ladizinsky gave the advice to dehull the seed before planting. If the spikelet is the dispersal unit, only the lower seed will germinate, the upper stays dormant because of inhibitors in the husk -in those cases, dehulling can increase germination. Another approach would be to keep the upper one as a reference. Literature is available on genebank management dealing with these issues and it should be consulted. This will be done by a task force as defined below.It was agreed that a task force composed of Gideon Ladizinsky, Igor Loskutov, Christoph Germeier, Axel Diederichsen, Zofia Bulinska and Dionysia Fasoula will consult through email and prepare a draft protocol on regeneration of wild accessions, taking into consideration the existing literature as well as the results of the AEGIS sub-group on Avena (report of 2008 6 ). An ad hoc meeting on AEGIS issues will be organized by the Avena WG in autumn 2011 to reach a conclusion.(The presentations corresponding to the reports summarized below are available online, as well as a paper on Avena activities at the N.I. Vavilov Research Institute (VIR, Russian Federation) provided after the meeting by I. Loskutov, who was unable to attend the meeting.) Dionysia Fasoula (Cyprus) mentioned the new collection of wild species originating from the AEGRO mission. A further focus in Cyprus lies on phenotyping.Noel Collins (Ireland) informed the meeting about the Avena collection in the National Crop Evaluation Centre. It consists of 24 old cultivars from the now closed oat breeding programmes in Ireland (University College Dublin) and one accession of A. strigosa. Genetic resources work in Ireland since 1996 is supported by a national genetic resources grant aid scheme. In 2009 the oats accessions were characterized morphologically according to the IBPGR oat descriptors list. Within the Irish Cereal Crop Landrace Project in situ occurrences of A. strigosa were described on the Aran Islands.Peter Hozlar (Slovakia) introduced characterization and evaluation of a collection of 1073 hexaploid cultivated oats held in the Slovak genebank. Genebank accessions are sown together with nursery collections; 27 descriptive and 44 technical descriptors are recorded. A classification is made in comparison to registered varieties. Yield was determined in four replications of 10 m 2 -plots. Husk content, test weight, seed weight, carbon, nitrogen and crude fibre were determined. Ranges were 40-160 cm for crop height, 0.5-10 t/ha for yield, 16-40% for husk contents, 10-50 mg for seed weight, 40-70 kg/hl for test weight, 8-21.5% for protein and 2.5-16.5% for crude fibre. P. Hozlar concluded that genotypes were found with trait expressions superior to the registered varieties and with extreme character expressions. The former are useful for breeding, the latter for research purposes.Elina Kiviharju (Finland) presented molecular work done at MTT: production of double haploids; use of this technology in a mapping population of 'Aslak', a β-glucan-rich cultivar and 'Matilda', an oil-rich and leaf-blotch-resistant cultivar to create a linkage map based on double haploids. Results were 28 linkage groups, 625 markers, a major gene for grain cadmium accumulation and single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) markers for short straw.Danela Murariu (Romania) presented the involvement of the Romanian genebank in the South East European Development Network on Plant Genetic Resources (SEEDNet). The Suceava Genebank, recently merged with the Romanian Seed Testing Institute, holds 560 oat accessions. For 75% of them morphological characterization is already available; for 60% biochemical studies have been made. In Romania 206 000 ha (4% of the agricultural area) is cropped to oats, mostly for animal feed. Danela Murariu, from the Suceava Genebank, is Chair of the Cereals and Maize working group of SEEDNet. The objective of the network, which was established in 2004, is the long-term conservation and sustainable utilization of plant genetic resources at national and regional levels. It assembles one thematic and six crop-oriented working groups, is planned and monitored by a regional steering committee and financially supported by Swedish agencies. The secretariat is located at the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences. Genebanks have been established in all member countries. SEEDNet has an observer status in ECPGR and in the FAO Commission on Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture, and is a member of EUCARPIA. In the Cereals and Maize WG 13 countries work together on agreed mandate species and priority crops. Three regional projects have been set up on collecting, multiplication and conservation of local landraces of maize and cereals. Together with other crops, 31 oat accessions have been collected. They are prepared for long-term storage and characterized morphophysiologicallyAn update on AEGIS Lorenzo Maggioni gave an update on AEGIS. He mentioned the background of a multitude of genebanks worldwide and in Europe and an estimated proportion of only about 30-40% unique accessions. Difficulties include the lack of conservation facilities, insufficient safetyduplication, regeneration backlogs and heterogeneous quality. These should be overcome by the sharing of responsibilities formalized in \"A European Genebank Integrated System\" (AEGIS) with long-term formal commitment, improved quality standards and improved sharing of information. The aim is to conserve the genetically unique and important accessions for Europe, store them under conditions which ensure genetic integrity in the long term and make them available. Up to now a Strategic Framework Policy Guide 7 has been agreed and a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) developed and signed at ministerial level with Bioversity by 26 countries. Next steps are the establishment of an AEGIS Quality System (AQUAS) and the compilation of the European collection. There is a small grant scheme of €100 000, with about €10 000 available per proposal. A proposal called EUROGENEBANK was submitted to the FP7 Research Infrastructure call, but was not selected for funding. EURISCO will be the information system for AEGIS. The flag \"AEGIS status\" was added to its structure. There is no fixed procedure for the selection of the European accessions, but it should be the result of a process involving the Crop Working Groups and the countries. A proposed simplified procedure has been suggested, consisting of the development of crop-specific selection criteria to be used for the selection of a list of accessions. Selection requirements have been approved by the Steering Committee, as: the selected accessions have to be in the public domain, genetically unique, plant genetic resources in the sense of being of economic use, and with importance for Europe. The suggestions of the Crop WGs are implemented by the National Coordinators in consultation with the holding institutes. The quality system (AQUAS) is based on the principle of making procedures transparent and letting them be checked by an independent body. Operational genebank manuals should describe the ongoing procedures, as a matter of transparency (generic and crop-specific technical procedures on collecting/acquisition, regeneration/propagation, drying and other preparatory steps, storage/field genebank maintenance, seed quality and viability monitoring, distribution and characterization). Crop-specific minimum standards should be agreed by the WG and then implemented by the participating genebanks. Capacity building will play a key role. Monitoring will be an AEGIS internal matter, to be implemented by the Crop WGs (first level) and the AEGIS Advisory Committee (second level).The Group started a discussion on the selection of accessions for the European collection as part of AEGIS. It was considered that all the wild species could be AEGIS accessions, and that all the material that has been selected for the AVEQ project could be included. It was also noted that collections hold many accessions which look like duplicates as they share the same name, but are in fact different. The Group thought that the definition of the accessions for AEGIS should be the topic of an ad hoc meeting to be held in autumn 2011.Christoph Germeier reported on the current activities in the European Avena Database (EADB) and commented on the perceived future of the Central Crop Databases (CCDBs). He mentioned the activities carried out in the AEGRO project, which are focused on geographic identification and monitoring of wild populations and the integration of Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF) data (historically observed occurrences of wild Avena species). Tools are also being developed for in situ field monitoring. He showed the connecting entities between ex situ and in situ databases, which are the observation/collecting site, and the occurrence, which in the case of collecting is the origin for one accession or a group of duplicate accessions. He showed some of the features of the AEGRO Web portal, which allows for searching according to different taxonomic views, downloading of result sets, and the display of occurrence/collecting sites with Google maps. A function for editing online for obviously mistaken localization information will also be implemented. He mentioned the function for distributed management of field experiments in the AVEQ project. The online tool for the generation of field plans according to an agreed randomization scheme ensures the orthogonality of field and lab work and will facilitate the inclusion of the results into the database. PDF documents (scoring lists) and Excel sheets are downloadable, including the description of observation methodology to input observation results. Upload facilities will be available for Excel spreadsheets and photographs. Currently both projects have their own databases and a lot remains to be done to integrate these with the EADB. An overall renovation of hard-and software for the EADB is needed, because the old technologies used cannot be maintained any longer. For this a two-year technical position was acquired in the JKI. Synergies are expected from a national programme for characterization and evaluation (EVA2), for which a software development project could be acquired, funded with €400 000 from the German Economic Stimulus Program. The software will be implemented by an external company specialized in open source model driven software development (itemis AG). All source code will be openly available for the interested community.Nevertheless Christoph Germeier sees now a point reached, where decisions regarding the CCDBs have to be taken. The PGR documentation landscape is changing, with a tendency towards centralized multicrop information systems hosted by CGIAR centres. The more these intend to take over functions currently available at (some of) the CCDBs (e.g. C&E information), the more difficult it will become to justify the activity of the CCDBs to administrators at those institutes holding them. This is aggravated by the fact that at the ECPGR Steering Committee level (cf. the presentations on the Independent External Review of ECPGR and the central role of EURISCO in AEGIS during this meeting) implicitly, and some National Coordinators also explicitly, do not support the idea of the CCDBs any more. In this situation it will be the task of the Crop WGs to identify the role of the CCDB for their work and to find a way for their continued maintenance and funding, that is if they should continue at all. One way could be to develop them more into scientific information systems like the crop-specific genomics portals MaizeGBD, SoyBase etc. This would give the opportunity to integrate their development as information work packages into larger thirdparty-funded projects, like EU framework projects. If in this way the CCDBs could attract third party funding, their maintenance might also be easier to justify at the institutional administrative level. In the currently developed central PGR information systems (GENESYS, EURISCO) an open source development strategy is not apparent. Design and development of these systems will be restricted more or less to CGIAR development teams, which normally are far away from the practical work in the Crop WGs. Christoph Germeier stressed the advantages of a decentralized information landscape and open source development, and also of the direct access of the Crop WGs to the databases, the more handy size of a crop-specific database in case of crop-specific interest, the broader involvement of developers, including students in PGR information and biodiversity informatics in the development of the information systems, and an ongoing broad standardization of approaches developing in an open source developer community in \"agreement by laziness\" (available approaches are used and enhanced instead of re-inventing the wheel). He concluded that regarding the EADB, thanks to the success in acquiring a two-year position, it will be upgraded to remain in operation for the next three to four years. During this time the decisions discussed above will have to be taken and implemented.Lorenzo Maggioni remarked that he did not see a lack of interest in the CCDBs at the ECPGR Steering Committee level. Very recently project proposals for Fruit CCDBs have been accepted by the Steering Committee. L. Maggioni thought that the response to the external evaluation regarding the perceived competition between EURISCO and the CCDBs will be resolved by ECPGR by stressing their complementarities and not by replacement of the CCDBs by EURISCO.The Group thought that the dynamism of the EADB and of its manager were very useful and should be encouraged and supported.The final session of the meeting focused on future project proposals. Valeria Terzi mentioned the wealth of phenotyping data becoming available from AVEQ, which will need complementation with genotyping data. Molecular tools are available to bring together phenotype and genotype. She mentioned currently available calls in the EU Framework Programme on biotic and abiotic stresses and on functional food, which would fit perfectly. But it was felt in the Group that the current projects AVEQ and AEGRO should be fully completed before starting with a new proposal. There was a suggestion to organize a COST project to make better use of the data and to develop a new proposal. But it has to be kept in mind that COST provides money solely for meetings. It could be a four-or five-year project with one meeting per year. A. strigosa could play an important role in a new action. A mapping population is already available for A. strigosa covering nematode resistance. A. strigosa has some importance also in organic farming and it shows quite interesting results in AVEQ. As a diploid, it is much more convenient for genomic research. The tetraploid species could be included as well, e.g. the continuation of the A. magna domestication presented by Gideon Ladizinsky or using the perennial A. macrostachya for introgression of frost resistance. A. magna in Morocco outperforms cultivated oat in drought resistance, which is also relevant in relation to climatic changes. A. insularis grows in relatively dry regions as well. The Focused Identification Germplasm Strategy (FIGS) approach, using ecogeographic data to identify potential occurrences of interesting germplasm, could be used. Another proposal suggested using the double haploid technology to describe genetic distances and the history of landraces with molecular markers. Another suggestion was to take more into account questions of oat quality for animal consumption: xylan, protein and oil contents would be major issues there.Valeria Terzi agreed to draft a proposal as coordinator of a COST action, to be developed on the basis of the ideas that have been proposed.The Chair of the WG, A. Katsiotis, expressed satisfaction with the progress made through the successful projects and encouraged all participants to seek new project funds for the future. Regarding progress on the workplan for Phase VIII of ECPGR, the definition of European accessions and the standards for conservation on wild species are still in the \"to do list\", but a task force and a dedicated ad hoc meeting were planned to take care of that.The Group re-confirmed Andreas Katsiotis as Chair and Elina Kiviharju was elected as Vice-Chair.The Romanian Ministry of Agricultural and Rural Development and the Genebank of Suceava were thanked for their kind support for the organization of the meeting. The situation of wild species collections at IBERS (T. Langdon)"}

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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"b14d5c7facef63a6d11c5950ebee84e7","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/bb8df7b0-41dd-4466-87c5-652032b313f8/retrieve","id":"-550498207"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"ae1986a9-8f2a-4ac2-8ae7-44d5d11a98c7","content":"is a climate hotspot, with more than US$45 billion in agricultural production at risk from higher temperatures, shorter growing seasons and more extreme droughts and floods. Maize, a staple crop covering up to 75% of cropland in parts of the region, is particularly vulnerable and is projected to face yield declines of 15%, among other climate impacts. Many of the affected areas already have serious levels of hunger and malnutrition, with the highest burden experienced by women and youth from marginalized, vulnerable communities. Therefore, if these systems are sustainably diversified, they could contribute to stabilize the regional and global agrifood systems.The next decade will be critical for strengthening food, land and water systems in East and Southern Africa. The region's agribusiness ecosystem has been identified as a critical engine for agricultural and economic development, climate change adaptation and gender and youth empowerment. Investment in innovation, capabilities and supportive environments will be essential for driving sustainable growth that benefits all.This Initiative aims to support climate-resilient agriculture and livelihoods in 12 countries in East and Southern Africa by helping millions of smallholders intensify, diversify and reduce the risks in maize-based farming through improved extension services, small and medium enterprise development, supporting governance frameworks and increased investment with a gender and social inclusion lens.This objective will be achieved through:• Diversifying and sustainably intensifying production by assessing needs and options for the introduction of crops, livestock, mechanization and irrigation, applying innovations in value chains and building capacity while scaling to larger farming communities.• Reducing risk and digitalizing value chains by co-designing and delivering \"Innovation Package\" bundles of digital agro-advisory systems and research management productsincluding mobile apps, TV programs and social media -to build resilience and improve productivity.• Supporting and accelerating value chain business enablers in maize mixed systems by using CGIAR's expertise and partner network to unlock access to funding, investment and tailored technical assistance.• Promoting the governing and enabling of multifunctional landscapes for sustainable diversification and intensification with a focus on strengthening the evidence base for decision-makers. • Empowering and engaging women and youth in agribusiness ecosystems by mapping challenges and opportunities to address gender and social inequality and applying inclusive and coordinated interventions for transformative change.• Scaling innovations and coordinating CGIAR and partner activities in the region through a scaling hub that uses the \"scaling readiness\" approach to inform, activate and bring to scale innovations that respond to regional or country demand.This Initiative will work in the following countries: Eswatini, Ethiopia, Kenya, Madagascar, Malawi, Mozambique, Rwanda, Uganda, South Africa, Tanzania, Zambia and Zimbabwe. Lessons with regional and global relevance will be shared.Proposed three-year outcomes include:1. At least 30 agribusinesses (40% run by women and 40% by youth) scale climate-smart solutions supporting diversification, intensification and risk management of maize mixed systems through at least US$5 million of new finance in debt, equity and grants. 2. At least 50,000 farmers, value chain actors and consumers (40% women and 40% youth) in maize mixed systems start to use climate-smart intensification and diversification practices with improved water and land management. 3. Investments of US$100 million enable, and two strategies/policies help support, collaborative governance and management of multifunctional landscapes. 4. At least 1 million farmers and other value chain actors (40% women and 40% youth) access bundled digital agro-advisory and agricultural risk management products and services that support their response to climate risks and management of land and water systems for climate resilience.Projected impacts and benefits 1 include:Climate adaptation and mitigation will be supported through the scaling of climatesmart agriculture, including the introduction of innovations such as stress-tolerant crop varieties, updated soil management and irrigation practices, mechanization, digital agro-advisory support services, and an enabling policy environment, at national, regional and continental scales, benefiting 11.3 million farmers and their families.Crop diversification, including the introduction of nutrient-dense, climate-resilient crops, livestock and fish, will bolster food and nutrition security, and stabilize food production in East and Southern Africa, benefiting 11.3 million farmers and their families.Fostering an agribusiness ecosystem that serves farmers, with a focus on women and youth, will reduce poverty and bolster livelihoods and jobs for 11.3 million farmers and their families.Women, youth and other marginalized groups will be supported with targeted technical, financial and entrepreneurial capacity building and support, including from the public and private sectors and civil society, in order to promote their engagement, ownership, employment opportunities and incomes in agribusiness, thereby benefiting 1.1 million individual women and bolstering development for the entire region.Environmental health and biodiversity will be supported through collaborative management planning and integrated policy implementation at landscape scales, with an ongoing community of practice on water, food and climate security and resilience in East and Southern Africa, bringing 798,000 hectares of land under improved management.This Initiative has a wide array of demand, innovation and scaling partners, including CGIAR; ministries of agriculture, green economy, fisheries and livestock, water and the environment; institutions under the national agricultural research and extension systems; national and regional 1 Projected Benefits are a way to illustrate reasonable orders of magnitude for impacts which could arise as a result of the impact pathways set out in the Initiative's Theories of Change. In line with the 2030 Research and Innovation Strategy, Initiatives contribute to these impact pathways, along with other partners and stakeholders. CGIAR does not deliver impact alone. These projections therefore estimate plausible levels of impact to which CGIAR, with partners, contribute. "}

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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"2ef13cc7578384173147caea71d22f25","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/87a2e44c-ecbe-4f4e-b885-d460e516989b/retrieve","id":"-2036306341"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"6ad5f271-88ad-427a-95d7-53d68e5f517b","content":"Rift Valley fever (RVF), a viral zoonosis found in sub-Saharan Africa, Saudi Arabia and Yemen, causes abortion and stillbirth in livestock and can cause serious conditions such as haemorrhagic fever and encephalitis in humans. ILRI's work, implemented in collaboration with multiple stakeholders, aims to identify key drivers for RVF occurrence and transmission, and develop decision support tools to guide responses at various stages of the RVF epidemic cycle. Developed following the last devastating outbreak, which occurred in Kenya in 2006-07, these research outputs are designed to enable decision-makers to take timely, evidence-based decisions to prevent and control RVF epidemics, reducing the impacts of the disease. In particular, the decision support tool has been incorporated in the Kenyan government's RVF Contingency Plan, and local governments in Kenya regularly use outputs from ILRI's work to assess their level of preparedness.Rift Valley fever (RVF) is a mosquito-borne viral disease that affects sheep, goats, cattle and camels, causing stillbirth and abortion. Humans can also become infected through direct contact with acutely infected animals or contaminated tissues, or through mosquito bites. In people, the disease manifests itself as a mild, influenza-like illness in the majority of cases (over 80%). However, it can also cause more serious conditions marked by haemorrhagic fever, encephalitis, or retinitis (Soumare et al. 2012).• Rift Valley fever, endemic to Africa, was first reported in the Arabian Peninsula in 2000.The last major RVF outbreak in 2006-7 cost the Kenyan economy around US$32 million• Sheep appear to be more susceptible than cattle or camels; over 90% of lambs infected with RVF die, whereas mortality among adult sheep can be as low as 10%.The public health burden of RVF during the 2006-7 outbreak in humans household costs was about US$120 for every human case reported.• A worldwide investment in One Health, including for RVF and also other zoonotic diseases, of US$25 billion a year for 10 years could generate benefits worth at least US$125 billion per year.RVF epidemics typically occur after a period of abovenormal, persistent rainfall, and have significant impacts on both human health and livestock production; it is estimated that the 2006-07 outbreak in Kenya led to losses valued at US$32 million (Rich and Wanyoike, 2010). However, such epidemics are also relatively uncommon, occurring on average once every ten years. This makes it difficult for governments to develop clear interventions in the face of an outbreak after a period of no visible cases (Martin et al., 2008). Between epidemics, there is usually a decline in the levels of awareness, and resources are often shifted to other more pressing challenges.For those seeking to protect animals and people from RVF, the task is complicated by the fact that the virus can be found in several host species (including livestock and wildlife) and can be transmitted by a range of mosquito species. It is also thought that the geographical range of the disease is expanding and that any future outbreaks that take place in newly affected areas are likely to have more devastating impacts, compared to those in areas that have had multiple exposures.As a zoonosis, RVF belongs to the 60% of human diseases that are also carried by animals, and are capable of being passed from animal to human. When it comes to controlling these diseases, many believe that traditional divisions between human and animal health are counterproductive, and instead advocate an approach known as 'One Health', which includes greater cooperation and sharing of services, such as laboratories and monitoring. RVF research has always used the One Health framework.In addressing a complex challenge such as RVF, research has needed to be carried out in progressive and incremental stages, each designed to address specific problems. Building on these research activities, ILRI has worked with Kenya's Department of Veterinary Services and other stakeholders to refine their national RVF Contingency Plan. Importantly, this calls for results of livestock monitoring to be provided to human health workers, and for relevant information on human health to be shared with livestock authorities. Encouragingly, the decision support tool developed by ILRI and its partners now forms a chapter of the Contingency Plan, defining activities that ought to be implemented at various stages of an RVF epidemic cycle. The tool has also been used at the regional level to inform the development of standard methods and procedures for managing RVF, under a project managed by the African Union Interafrican Bureau for Animal Resources (AU-IBAR).Recently, outputs of the mathematical model demonstrating optimal periods for vaccinating cattle and sheep were reviewed in a stakeholders' forum. The participants offered practical suggestions which are being used to develop the model into a more useful tool for assessing RVF interventions. This, and similar models, will aid decisionmaking on control strategies, helping to ensure that the disease can be effectively managed. Hazard maps produced by the ILRI research team have also been used to guide interventions such as risk-based surveillance and the placement of sentinel herds.Evidence of impact ILRI's work on RVF is designed to enable public health and animal health officials to replace the current 'all or nothing' approach to RVF monitoring and control with a risk-based approach. Given that RVF epidemics recur after a long period of time (and in fact none has occurred after the recent one in 2006-07 when RVF decision support tools were developed), it is difficult to judge the impact of this research work on disease incidence and impacts on livelihoods. However, table-top simulations of outbreaks that are periodically conducted in the region by local governments often use the outputs from ILRI research (e.g. RVF decision support tool, risk maps) to assess their levels of preparedness. The Kenya Directorate of Veterinary Services is also using ILRI's sentinel flocks for their own surveillance needs.In February 2012, ILRI hosted a multi-stakeholder workshop for eastern African partners in order to review its RVF research strategy, explore potential collaborations and discuss options for controlling the disease. The participants identified a number of research gaps, including the need for climate models and a vector profile, to enable the mapping of most affected and high risk areas and better understand how the disease interacts between livestock and wildlife. In addition, a cost-benefit analysis of vaccination, vector control, surveillance, and sanitary measures was scheduled. Results from this analysis will give much needed evidence to support the creation of policies and strategies for appropriate surveillance, prevention and control of RVF in eastern Africa.The "}

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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"7c07f2248cc88cf075fab04260167128","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/eaea6f3c-e16c-4201-863b-eb99e0584f86/retrieve","id":"1964104211"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"cf4e5e9c-5f34-4846-8a55-8faf587a5aa7","content":"CIP publications contribute important development information to the public arena. Readers are encouraged to quote or reproduce material from them in their own publications. As copyright holder CIP requests acknowledgement and a copy of the publication where the citation or material appears.World Health Organization national planning, as well as the selected states' agricultural development programs. Worthy of mention as well are the academic and research institutions, namely the Federal University of Agriculture, Abeokuta; the National Root Crops Research Institute, Umudike; the National Cereal Institute, Badeggi; the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture, Ibadan; and HarvestPlus in Nigeria. We appreciate the inputs to this study of development partners and NGOs, specifically the Catholic Relief Services, the Civil Society Scaling-Up Nutrition in Nigeria, Save the Children, etc. Also, we say a big thank you to all the farmers, processors, marketers, consumers and other respondents who gave their unbiased opinions on biofortification and biofortified crops.We acknowledge the survey team that made the study a reality, specially Dr Chris Ogedengbe and Dr Omoh Omokpedia, who supported Uzoma Chimapam William, Michael Falade and Ibrahim Lawani in data collection, and the project country advocates for reviewing the draft and providing feedback on the findings. Thanks also to Kellen Kebaara for assisting with the editing and layout of this report and to the Communications and Public Awareness Department at CIP-Lima for their support in designing the cover.Our gratitude goes also to the entire project team in Nigeria for their unwavering dedication and commitment to ensuring the success of this study, and in particular the country coordinator, Dr Olapeju Phorbee, and Isiaka Oyerinde.We are indebted to Dr Andrew Onwuemele for working on the data, finishing up the study, putting together the report against all odds and developing the advocacy strategy.About 63% of the women in Nigeria are anemic and 31% are iodine deficient, and close to 30% of under-fives are vitamin A deficient. While the government has instituted several measures to address the micronutrient deficiency challenges, the country continues to report cases of micronutrient deficiency. Biofortification is a strategy for addressing micronutrient malnutrition that can reach the remote rural areas that often are not easily reached by existing initiatives. This justifies the need for biofortification interventions such as the Building Nutritious Food Baskets (BNFB) Project in Nigeria. BNFB is a three-year project (2015-2018) funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. It aims to contribute to the reduction of hidden hunger by catalyzing sustainable investments in the utilization of biofortified crops in Nigeria and Tanzania. This situation analysis employed multiple approaches. Data collection was in two phases. The first stage involved a desk review and content analysis of several documents in which preliminary answers to the specific objectives of the situation analysis were identified. The output from that was a report with preliminary conclusions to be tested during the field visits. The second phase involved field visits and consultations with relevant stakeholders. The main instruments for data collection were questionnaires, a focus group discussion guide and a key informant interview guide. In all, 420 farmers and 735 consumers were systematically and randomly selected to participate in the situation analysis. Qualitative and quantitative techniques were employed in the data analysis. The data collected through the questionnaire were analyzed statistically by relevant descriptive statistics including frequency, percentage, mean, median and cross-tabulation. All data were analyzed with SPSS.Objective 1: Use available data and other information to accurately identify the key actors in the scaling up of biofortified crops and the trends and patterns of consumption of biofortified crops and their products, disaggregated by relevant segments of the country and of the population.  There were several key actors involved in the scaling up of biofortified crops in Nigeria. These included international partners such as HarvestPlus, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Catholic Relief Services, Helen Keller International, the International Potato Center (CIP), the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) and the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA) as well as national partners and research institutes such as the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development and the National Root Crops Research Institute.The first variety of pro-vitamin A cassava was approved for release in Nigeria in late 2011 and about half a million Nigerian farm households were growing its varieties.The level of awareness on biofortification was high among farmers but low among consumers. Over 60% of the farmers surveyed were aware of the existence of biofortified sweetpotatoes, cassava and maize but over 61% of the consumers were not aware of the existence of these crops.  Among the states, farmers' awareness on biofortification was highest in Benue, at 83.8%, followed by Kaduna, at 79%, Akwa-Ibom, at 70%, Taraba, at 56.9% and Osun, at 56.7%. Among consumers, awareness of the existence of biofortified sweetpotatoes, cassava and maize was high only in Benue state, at 83%.The level of farmers' awareness on the biofortified crops was highest for OFSP, at 55.1%, and then cassava, at 39.9%. Only 5% of the respondents were aware of the existence of biofortified maize.The main source of information on the existence of biofortified crops was markets, which was the source for 48.2% of the farmers, friends for 24% of the farmers and agricultural development programs (ADPs) for 14.8% of the farmers. The sources of information for consumers included friends for 39.3% of them, markets for 33.1% of them and ADPs for 12.7% of them.There was a general low level of awareness among consumers on the benefits of biofortification of crops. Only 25.6% of them accurately identified the benefits of biofortification, compared with 78% of the farmers.  Some 42.2% of the farmers planted biofortified sweetpotatoes, 33.3% planted biofortified cassava and 15% planted biofortified maize. Overall, only 30.2% of the farmers planted biofortified crops.  About 61.1% of the farmers planting biofortified crops cultivated them mainly for consumption, while only 30.3% of them cultivated them for sale.The predominant types of sweetpotatoes, cassava or maize consumed by the respondents were the white types, which are not biofortified. Fewer than 3% of the respondents consumed the non-white varieties of these crops.The consumption of biofortified crops and food products was influenced by the consumers' level of education and location, and the taste and texture of the products.Objective 2: Identify and analyze the barriers and bottlenecks that prevent disadvantaged groups from accessing and benefiting from biofortification, including the social, political and economic conditions that result in shortfalls in the creation of an enabling environment for the scaling up of biofortification.The main barriers disadvantaged groups faced in accessing and benefiting from biofortification included cultural and individual preferences relating to the product attributes; inefficiencies in the credit market, information access, and input and output markets; and their low education levels.Objective 4: Analyze the extent to which biofortification is prioritized in national policies, law, strategies, plans and budgets.  There were five key policies in Nigeria that target malnutrition, but only two specifically mentioned biofortification as a strategy for addressing micronutrient deficiency.The following gaps were identified with respect to policy support for biofortified foods: -The focus of the agriculture policy remained on increasing yields of staple crops; -Nutrition policies focused on direct interventions and largely neglected food-based approaches; -The policy environment in Nigeria did not overtly promote biofortification.Objective 5: Analyze government's (and its agencies') policy and funding priorities as far as nutrition and biofortification are concerned.The sources of funding for biofortification in Nigeria were internal and external. The internal sources were mainly related to the federal government, while the main external sources were HarvestPlus and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.Another source of funding was the New Alliance for Food Security and Nutrition.Objective 6: Analyze current institutional and structural bottlenecks to address in order to unlock the value chain for the biofortified crops in the country, including the varietal release policies/criteria and the biofortified varieties currently in the pipeline (for release).  There were nine types of actors in the biofortified crops value chain in Nigeria -farmers, local collectors, national traders, wholesalers, retailers, agroprocessors, home consumers, national agricultural research institutes and the variety release committee.The key constraints in the yellow cassava value chain included underutilization of cassava tubers for industrial purposes, weak linkages between the industrial users of cassava products and processors, poor market information, unavailability of inputs, poor finance, and the short shelf life of yellow cassava roots.The key constraints in the OFSP value chain included the low uptake of the crop in processing, low productivity of smallholder farmers, poor access to farm inputs, low awareness among consumers on the nutritional value of OFSP, poor linkages among farmers and processors of OFSP, short shelf life of OFSP roots, poor market outlay, and poor multisectoral coordination and collaboration among OFSP stakeholders in Nigeria.The key constraints in the maize value chain included insufficient knowledge on good agricultural and postharvest practices; limited knowledge on soil management practices, crop nutrient requirements and other agronomic essentials; aflatoxin contamination; storage pests such as mice, rats and other rodents, which were a source of notable damage to stored maize grain; low yield; and low rates of adoption of the improved technical package by farmers.The quantity of food returned after processing was lower for pro-vitamin A cassava than for conventional cassava, and pro-vitamin A cassava products were more expensive than conventional cassava products.The poor packaging method used by processors for preserving pro-vitamin A content was one of the major institutional bottlenecks.The unavailability of seeds is an important challenge that must be addressed.The inadequacy of the laboratory facilities, which are important for research geared towards improving the texture, taste and color of the biofortified crops, was a key institutional problem.This study gives a clear picture of the situation in Nigeria with respect to BNFB objectives and indicators, and also contributes to improving the understanding on the gaps and the actions vital for the scaling up of biofortification in Nigeria. These outcomes will be useful in designing strategic interventions for scaling up biofortified crops for nutrition security in Nigeria. The following recommendations emanate from the findings of the study:  CIP and HarvestPlus should target more advocacy programs at raising the awareness level on the existence of biofortified crops in Nigeria.CIP should aim for the use of media channels such as television and radio for awareness creation and sensitization programs for stakeholders on the existence and importance of biofortified crops for their health.x  HarvestPlus, CIP and other research institutions should focus on improving the yield, maturity period, taste, color and texture of the biofortified crops based on the preferences of farmers and consumers.HarvestPlus and CIP should develop an intervention specifically addressing the bottlenecks that prevent disadvantaged groups from accessing and benefitting from biofortified crops.HarvestPlus and CIP should advocate for the establishment by the federal government of an institutional framework to support biofortification in Nigeria that is backed by law.CIP should carry out advocacy among the partners in the New Alliance for Food Security and Nutrition to ensure that part of their investment in agriculture in Nigeria is directed to biofortification activities.CIP and other partners in Nigeria should conduct advocacy programs focused on policymakers for the mainstreaming of biofortification in agriculture and nutrition policies. CIP should create a biofortification innovation platform that incorporates all the stakeholders around the agricultural farming zones in each state, including farmers, researchers, input dealers, processors, marketers, financial institutions and consumers.-Farmers: on-farm demonstrations on agronomic practices that increase yield and on storage of biofortified crops; -OFSP processors: new processing approaches that improve the taste, texture and dry matter content of the roots and processed products; -Researchers: techniques to develop new biofortified crops with high yields, resistance to diseases and pests, short maturity period, good taste and high nutritive value.  In Nigeria, about 63% of the women are anemic and 31% are iodine deficient, and close to 30% of under-fives are vitamin A deficient and 20% are zinc deficient. 4 While the government has instituted several measures to address micronutrient deficiency challenges, micronutrient deficiency continues to be manifested in several segments of the population.The current efforts to address micronutrient malnutrition include supplementation programs that provide iron and vitamin A capsules to women of reproductive age and children under the age of five through the health sector. Even where supplementation coverage through these programs is high, it only targets the most vulnerable groups, yet micronutrient deficiencies are of public health significance and the entire population needs to have access to adequate micronutrients. Food-based approaches for addressing micronutrient malnutrition have so far largely been limited to commercial food fortification of salt with iodine; cooking oil, sugar and margarine with vitamin A; and wheat flour and maize meal with iron and B vitamins. The promotion of dietary diversification and nutrition-sensitive food production, and nutrition education have not received the focus and sustained attention necessary to effect sustainable behavior change. 5 Biofortification provides an additional strategy for addressing micronutrient malnutrition to reach the remote rural areas often not easily reached by the other existing initiatives.Nutrition evidence shows that added nutrients bred into staple foods under controlled conditions become bioavailable when the food is consumed and are absorbed at sufficient levels to improve micronutrient status. A study in South Africa evaluated the impact on liver reserves of vitamin A of in children fed sweetpotato for five months during the school year and found that those who ate orange-fleshed sweetpotato (OFSP) had a positive change in liver reserves of vitamin A compared with those who ate white sweetpotatoes, measured using the modified relative dose response test, 6 which is a semi-quantitative method to evaluate liver reserves. 7 In more recent work among Bangladeshi women, 8 consumption of OFSP 6 days a week over 10 weeks did not show a net gain in the total body reserves of vitamin A over the negative controls but it did contribute to the rise in circulating serum beta-carotene concentrations. With respect to yellow cassava, in vitro studies with cassava showed that beta-carotene content was proportional to the volume consumed and that the genotype did not have an influence on the level of beta-carotene currently available in the germplasm. 9 In studies conducted on animals, the bioconversion factor was found to be 3.7 μg betacarotene to 1 μg retinol despite the fact that the cis-β-carotene composition in processed cassava is 48%. 10 This justifies the need for new interventions for addressing micronutrient deficiency problems in Nigeria, such as the Building Nutritious Food Baskets (BNFB) Project.Although Nigeria recorded a decline in under-five stunting from 41% in 2008 to 37% in 2013, 11 the country still accounted for 11 million out of the world's 60 million stunted children in 2012. 12 The Nigeria demographic and health survey data 13 showed that the nutritional status trend worsened from 24% in 2003 to 23% in 2008, the underweight status from 29% in 2003 to 11% in 2013 and the wasting status from 14% in 2008 to 18% in 2013. There is abundant evidence suggesting that malnutrition is prevalent in Nigeria in general and in northwest Nigeria in particular, where the basic needs of life of food, shelter and clothing often are not within the reach of the majority of the poor. Data for 2013 show that more than half of the children aged under five years from the North West region were chronically malnourished while 36% were severely stunted. 14 Zamfara is one of the states in the region with appalling malnutrition among under-fives, and 34% of the children there were severely malnourished while 56% were chronically malnourished.15The October 2016 Cadre Harmonisé 16 analysis on Nigeria showed that some 8 million people in the northeast were facing acute food insecurity. While the government has geared up its support and humanitarian access to the northeastern states, the situation remained particularly worrisome in the state of Borno, where nearly 60% (3.3 million people) of the population was facing acute food insecurity, including 55,000 who were threatened by famine. 17 The initiative to control and reduce micronutrient deficiency disorders in Nigeria goes back to 2002, when the government adopted as a new strategy fortification of staple foods with vitamin A so that children could easily consume vitamin A in their food. The Ministry of Industry, through the Standards Organization of Nigeria, published mandatory standards for vitamin A fortification for flour, sugar and vegetable oil that year. By 2004, 70% of the sugar, 100% of the wheat flour and 55% of the vegetable oil in the market were fortified with vitamin A. Nigeria is also fortifying wheat flour with iron, thereby helping to protect children and mothers' physical and mental health. 18 In 2004, the Federal Government of Nigeria initiated the Home-Grown School Feeding Programme through the Universal Basic Education Act. That legislation stipulated that at a minimum all state primary schools must provide one meal a day to each student. Food-based approaches for addressing micronutrient malnutrition in Nigeria have so far largely been limited to commercial food fortification of salt with iodine; cooking oil, sugar and margarine with vitamin A; and flour and maize meal with iron and B vitamins. Many rural communities have limited access to commercially processed and fortified foods, and often locally processed and unfortified foods are more readily available to them and cheaper. 19 Biofortification -the enhancement of micronutrient levels of staple crops through biological processes such as plant breeding and genetic engineering 20 -provides an additional strategy for addressing micronutrient malnutrition in Nigeria. Biofortification has multiple advantages, including the fact that it capitalizes on the regular daily intake of a consistent amount of a staple food by all the family members and it has the potential to reach the remote rural areas that are not easily reached by the existing initiatives. These advantages were the triggers for the initiation of BNFB in Nigeria.BNFB was initiated to contribute to tackling the health and other challenges posed by micronutrient deficiency in Nigeria. As a best practice, the implementation of any development intervention program is usually accompanied by systematic efforts to measure its effectiveness and understand its broad impact on its beneficiaries. That approach demands proper knowledge of the existing situation in order to be able to establish the counterfactual of the program. It is in that context that the baseline survey of the BNFB Project was commissioned.BNFB is a three-year project running from 2015 to 2018 and funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. It aims to contribute to the reduction of hidden hunger by catalyzing sustainable investments in the utilization of biofortified crops at scale in the Nigeria and Tanzania. The project adopts a multi-crop food basket approach, advocates for increased investment in the integration of biofortified food crops in food systems and contributes to the sustainable solutions for addressing Tagwireyi, J. (2017). A situational analysis of regional investment, policies, legislations and advocacy efforts of food based approaches to combating macronutrient deficiency in Sub-Saharan Africa: focus on bio-fortification. micronutrient malnutrition, especially in the vulnerable groups of young children and women. The project builds on lessons learnt from and achievements of the Reaching Agents of Change (RAC) Project (2011-2015), which was spearheaded by the International Potato Center (CIP) and Helen Keller International, to scale up the adoption of biofortified crops. The crops BNFB is promoting are high iron beans, pro-vitamin A maize (orange maize), orange-fleshed sweetpotatoes (OFSP) and yellow cassava. BNFB is led by CIP, which along with the International Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT), the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT), the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA), HarvestPlus and the Forum for Agricultural Research in Africa (FARA), forms the consortium of six core partners implementing the project, working together with national partners. The project has two specific objectives:  Strengthen the enabling environment for increased investments in biofortified crops;  Strengthen institutional and community capacities to produce and consume biofortified crops.The primary aim of the situation analysis was to gather analytical data and information that establish the baseline status of the key thematic components of BNFB and the key actors responsible for realizing the objectives of the BNFB Project.The general objectives of conducting the situation analysis were to:  Improve the understanding of decision-makers, partners and all other stakeholders working in biofortification in the country;  Identify the causes of the slow uptake of biofortification, as the basis for recommending actions;  Identify the mechanisms to support national and decentralized planning and development processes, including influencing policies, strategies, budgets and national policies to contribute towards creating an enabling environment for scaling up biofortification;  Identify the current levels of funding and/investments in biofortification by development partners and the government;  Strengthen the knowledge base on the current consumption patterns for biofortified crops and their products;  Map out the key actors, the needs of the population and communities, and the bottlenecks and gaps to be addressed in order to unlock the value chains of the biofortified crops in the country and prioritize interventions that need to be implemented (advocacy, promotion, seed systems, and institutional and individual capacity building and training);  Identify the major policies, strategies and plans in place that favor biofortification and the areas for further policy engagement.The specific objectives of situation analysis were to:  Use available data and other information to accurately identify the key actors in scaling up biofortified crops and the trends and patterns of consumption of biofortified crops and their products, disaggregated by relevant segments of the country and of the population;  Identify and analyze the barriers and bottlenecks that prevent disadvantaged groups from accessing and benefiting from biofortification, including the social, political and economic conditions that result in shortfalls in the creation of an enabling environment for the scaling up of biofortification;  Assess the current investment pattern in biofortification and the main donors to approach to unlock increased investments in biofortification;  Analyze the extent to which biofortification is prioritized in national policies, law, strategies, plans and budgets;  Analyze the government's (and its agencies') policy and funding priorities as far as nutrition and biofortification are concerned;  Analyze the current institutional and structural bottlenecks to address in order to unlock the value chain for the biofortified crops in the country, including the varietal release policies and criteria and the biofortified varieties currently in the pipeline (for release);  Assess the needs of the population and communities, bottlenecks and gaps to be addressed and prioritize the interventions that need to be implemented (advocacy, promotion, seed systems, and institutional and individual capacity building and training opportunities).Mixed methods were employed in conducting the situation analysis, which was in two phases: a desk review involving a content analysis of literature pertinent to the objectives of BNFB, and a field survey with field visits and consultations with stakeholders.The first stage was a desk review during which preliminary answers to the specific objectives of the situation analysis were identified through a content analysis of several documents, including key reports, policy documents, published studies, research and survey reports and relevant grey literature. It also involved a content analysis of available legislation, social policy, budget allocation and expenditure documents in conformity with the objectives of BNFB. The product from this stage was a report with preliminary conclusions to be verified during the field visits.The survey research design was adopted for the study. Generally survey research draws samples from a large population and the conclusions reached from the sample are generalized to the entire population. This design was suitable for the situation analysis, as it was not possible to cover all the states in Nigeria due to cost and time considerations. The design also allowed us to elicit information about attitudes and perceptions, which might have been difficult to obtain using other designs.The total population of farmers in Nigeria and of those involved in the planting of biofortified crops are unknown. Consequently, the sampling design adopted for the situation analysis was purposive. However, efforts were made to ensure that the study covered all the geopolitical zones in Nigeria.The seven states of Akwa-Ibom, Benue, Enugu, Kwara, Kaduna, Osun and Taraba were purposively selected from each of the six geopolitical zones of Nigeria for the situation analysis study. Each of these states was divided into farming zones following a geographical categorization based on the crop types and share of production. With the assistance of the agricultural development programs (ADPs), two farming zones were purposively selected in each state using their cultivation of sweetpotato, maize and cassava as the main criterion for selection. In each of the farming zones, a list of farmers was obtained from the ADP. That list served as the sampling frame from which 60 farmers were randomly selected in each of the selected states. Also, in each of the selected states 105 consumers of at least one of sweetpotato, cassava and maize crops were purposively selected. A total of 420 farmers and 735 consumers participated in the study.In order to achieve the objectives of the situation analysis, both qualitative and quantitative data were gathered from primary and secondary sources. Primary data were obtained from farmers and consumers of sweetpotato, cassava and maize. Secondary data were collected from published and unpublished materials such a key reports, policy documents, published studies, research and survey reports, and social policy, budget allocation and expenditure documents. Some of the secondary sources of data were Tagwireyi (2017), 21 UNICEF, WHO & World Bank (2015), 22 HarvestPlus (2016), 23 the Nigeria Health Sector Component of National Food and Nutrition Policy, and the National Strategic Plan of Action for Nutrition (2014-2019), among others.The main instruments used in collecting data for the situation analysis were questionnaires, an indepth interview guide and focus group discussion (FGD) guide. Questionnaire administration: Two sets of questionnaires were designed for the situation analysis. The first questionnaire was for farmers (see Annex 1). The questions sought information on the farmers' demographics, farming practices, awareness on the non-white cassava, sweetpotato and maize, production patterns and challenges etc. The second questionnaire was administered to consumers (see Annex 2) and the questions bordered on demographics, frequency and pattern of consumption of sweetpotatoes, cassava and maize crops and their products, awareness on non-white cassava, sweetpotatoes and maize, among other issues. Focus group discussions: One focus group discussion was conducted for farmers in each state to establish their awareness on and knowledge about OFSP, vitamin A maize and yellow cassava, how they sourced seeds, how and to whom they sold their produce, and motivation for growing the crops of interest and their challenges. Each focus group consisted of a maximum of eight farmers. Farmers who were growers of at least one of sweetpotato, cassava or maize were recruited through their state ADPs at least two days before the engagement.The respondents for the in-depth interviews included processors; input suppliers for vines, stems and seed; ADP staff; nutritionists; representatives of research and training institutes; aggregators and marketers of biofortified crops.Qualitative and quantitative techniques of data analysis were employed for both the descriptive and inferential analyses of the study. Content analysis was undertaken on data collected through the indepth interviews and FGDs. The data collected through the questionnaire were analyzed using relevant descriptive statistics including frequency, percentage, mean, median and cross-tabulation. All data collected were analyzed with the SPSS.21 Tagwireyi, J. (2017). A situational analysis of regional investment, policies, legislations and advocacy efforts of food based approaches to combating macronutrient deficiency in Sub-Saharan Africa: focus on bio-fortification.UNICEF, WHO and World Bank. ( 2015). Joint child malnutrition estimates: levels and trends. Global Database on Child Growth and Malnutrition (http://www.who.int/nutgrowthdb/estimates2014/en/, accessed May 2017).Quality assurance is critical in a survey of this nature, so, in all the stages of the survey adequate measures were taken to enhance the credibility of the exercise and the quality of the data collected.The design of the data collection instruments was tailored to the scope of the study, taking cognizance of the broad goals and the specific objectives as stated in the terms of reference. These helped determine the variables that were included in the data collection instruments. In addition, the decision to design four data collection instruments, i.e. two questionnaires, an FGD guide and an in-depth interview guide, was to ensure that adequate data were collected from the different sources in a complementary manner. This facilitated data triangulation and improved the internal validity and reliability of the instruments as well as the quality of the data. Furthermore, the two questionnaires were pilot tested and, along with the other two research instruments, were thoroughly reviewed and revised several times based on the views and comments of experts in this field. Check questions were incorporated in the instruments to ensure that inconsistencies on the part of the respondents and enumerators in the field were detected during data cleaning and analysis.The research design included measures to preempt the occurrence of ethical issues in the study. In this regard each questionnaire was accompanied with a short consent form that was read to the respondents, and it is only after agreeing to the content of the form that they were allowed to participate in the research.To ensure maximum confidentiality of the research participants, the analysis and presentation of data from the interviews and the FGDs, and the questionnaire administration observed the principle of non-attribution. 24This section presents the main findings of the situation analysis for BNFB. It first deals with the demographic and socioeconomic characteristics of the respondents to the questionnaire interviews, who mainly were farmers and consumers in the sampled states.Basic sociodemographic characteristics of farmers and consumers are important variables in determining their social and economic behavior. Figure 1 presents the gender distribution of the respondents in the study. More male farmers (73.5%) and male consumers (61.7%) participated in the study.That means that while all the participants' contributions were taken into account in the study, specific statements cannot be traced back to them.   2016) 25 who found that nutritional knowledge was relatively lower among households with low education than among those with better educated respondents. Another explanation is that most of the sensitization and awareness programs for biofortification were conducted in urban areas among educated people. This calls for more outreach to the grassroots communities to increase their knowledge on the value of biofortified crops.  Among the farmers, 89.4% had farmed for at least five years, 52.3% processed their crops for both family consumption and basic income generation, and 47.7% restricted their livelihood activities to farming. Some 52.1% of the farmers were members of farmers' associations and cooperatives, while the others did not belong any farming association.Figure 4 shows farmers' land holding sizes, and most of them had more than 5 acres. Almost 60% of the farmers farmed in lowlands, or fadama 26 land (Figure 5).  A stakeholder analysis was carried out aimed at identifying the key actors in biofortification processes and activities in Nigeria. These stakeholders were later grouped into the categories of international actors and donors, national political actors (legislators, governors), government ministries, universities and research institutes, NGOs and civil society organizations, producers, processors, input dealers, marketers and consumers. Table 1 shows the key actors in biofortification activities. The main actors involved in supporting and promoting biofortification activities in Nigeria included HarvestPlus, Catholic Relief Services, Helen Keller International, CIP, UNICEF, IITA, the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development and the National Root Crops Research Institute (NRCRI). Others were input dealers, producers, processors, marketers and consumers of biofortified products in Nigeria. The activities of each of these actors in support and promotion of biofortification are highlighted in Table 1.The key actors in the biofortification of crops were asked to name the institutional and structural bottlenecks to be addressed in order to unlock the value chain of the biofortified crops in Nigeria.Their answers are summarized in Table 1. With regard to the crops themselves, the actors observed that (1) the quantity of food returned after processing pro-vitamin A cassava was low compared with the conventional cassava, and was a reason that consumers preferred the conventional type, (2) the prices of vitamin A cassava products were higher than those for conventional cassava products, (3) there was a misconception that biofortified crop products were GMO products, (4) awareness about OFSP and its products was low, and (5) OFSP's texture and low dry matter content were challenges in its uptake.In terms of structural and institutional bottlenecks, the key actors regarded investment in the agricultural extension program as low, and the packaging method for preserving pro-vitamin A content during processing was seen as poor. This calls for capacity building for processors to unlock the value chain of biofortified crops. Availability of funds is also a challenge for all the actors and for all the activities necessary to unlock the value chain of the biofortified crops.Upland Rainfed, 32.7% Irrigated, 8.0%Lowland/ Fadama, 59% Some of the key actors also noted that in some states the farmers' adoption of biofortified crops was high, and increasing numbers of them were looking for the seeds of the crops. Unavailability of seeds has become a major challenge that must be addressed. Furthermore, there was the problem of recycling of seeds by farmers using traditional methods rather than getting seeds from seed companies. This practice has hindered the scaling up of biofortified crops.The inadequacy of the laboratory facilities at NRCRI is a major institutional problem. Such facilities are important for research geared towards analyzing and improving the physico-chemical and sensory properties of the biofortified crops.   According to the Nigeria national coordinator of CIP, since 2011 CIP has implemented several OFSP activities. These are described below.RAC ran over four years and was implemented by CIP and Helen Keller International in Tanzania, Mozambique and Nigeria, as the principal countries, and Ghana and Burkina Faso, as the secondary countries. The main focus was on increasing awareness about vitamin A deficiency and strengthening both the technical and advocacy capacity for the successful utilization of OFSP in nutrition interventions. The project advocated for increased investment in OFSP to combat vitamin A deficiency among young children and women of reproductive age, and also built the institutional capacity to design and implement gender-sensitive projects to ensure wide access and utilization of OFSP in selected African countries.In Nigeria, RAC generated USD 1,262,479.42, which supported vine multiplication, dissemination, production and processing, and the conduct of a gender study on sweetpotato production systems. The project supported advocacy work and capacity development for 16 national advocates to engage and influence policy and 79 technical experts to deliver the training-of-trainers course on 'Everything you ever wanted to know about sweetpotato'. RAC developed two toolkits on a range of topics related to OFSP, advocacy materials, and OFSP investment guide products targeting investors, implementers and policy-makers. The project strengthened the capacity of the Agricultural and Rural Management Training Institute (ARMTI) to host and run annual courses on sweetpotato. After the project ended ARMTI continued to offer the sweetpotato course on its own on a fee basis. Under seed systems activities, RAC facilitated the production of clean planting materials of OFSP vines for widespread distribution by decentralized vine multipliers and fast tracked the release of two OFSP varieties in Nigeria, King J and Mothers Delight. The project worked with NRCRI to develop a seed multiplication plan for the production of foundation OFSP seed to supply large quantities of clean vine cuttings in Benue, Kaduna, Kwara, Nasarawa and Abuja Federal Capital Territory states. RAC established 6.3 ha of disease-free primary and 4.2 ha of disease-free secondary materials. In addition, it developed a monitoring and evaluation plan and system, systematically documented the process of the project implementation and produced a booklet on the lessons learned, which it shared widely.According to Rainbow Project's technical advisor/project manager, the project, supported by the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, was started in 2014 as an offshoot of the investment raised by the first phase of RAC. The aim of the Rainbow Project was to build a community of practice that would effectively contribute to the reduction of food insecurity, malnutrition and poverty in Nigeria through leveraging the unexploited potential of OFSP and improving the market opportunities for all types of sweetpotato. The project was implemented in the seven states of Osun, Kwara, Kaduna, Benue, Nasarawa, Federal Capital Territory and Ebonyi.Between April 2014 and December 2015, which is when the project was implemented actively,  About 50 vine multipliers were identified, selected and empowered to produce OFSP vines for farmers' uptake;  All the ADP extension staff in all the project states and a few others from outside the ADPs participated in the training-of-trainers' 10-day course on 'Everything you ever wanted to know about sweetpotato' at ARMTI, Ilorin. Almost all of them were further equipped to step down the training to others in their states or locations.Over 35,000 households with children under the age of five years were reached with at least one bundle of OFSP with 100 cuttings of vines to encourage them to start home gardens and to give them access to the nutritious crop.The Rainbow Project collaborated with Helen Keller International on the SPRING Project, where almost 1000 infant and young children's feeding support groups in Benue and Federal Capital Territory were reached with OFSP vines and equipped to plant, process and use OFSP as a complementary food for their babies.In creating an institutional demand for OFSP root, the Rainbow Project successfully advocated for inclusion of OFSP in the Osun State school feeding program, which was accepted by the O-Meal School Feeding Program, began with a pilot of 8 schools, and gradually scaled up to 17 schools before the project ended. Fortunately, the Jumpstarting Project of CIP continued with the OFSP school program. As at December 2016, OFSP pottage was on the menu of not less than 174 public schools in Osun state, consuming about 10 t of the crop weekly and creating a market for OFSP farmers, vendors and other stakeholders. About four private schools in the state also were serving the pottage.The Osun state government has helped to equip the youth with skills related to the OFSP value chain, under the Osun Youth Empowerment Scheme.  OFSP bread, made using then puree, was introduced to bakers and it has now moved from home consumption to commercialization. It was also included in the school menu of Oriade LGA in Osun state.Sensitization activities were carried out among strategically targeted groups, institutions, organizations etc. to create awareness on OFSP for its adoption. Such targets included antenatal clinics, developmental organizations, agricultural shows, market and road shows, eateries, food-based associations, etc. Commemorations of national and international days related to nutrition also were used to sensitize the public on the crop, especially in Abuja, where most of the events were concentrated. Some development organizations were already using OFSP for their programs, disseminating the vines to beneficiaries as part of their nutrition-sensitive agriculture. Such organizations included the Catholic Relief Services under its SMILE Project that is in five states of Nigeria. Some indigenous foods were being enriched with OFSP for household dietary diversity and income generation. OFSP was used in foods such as pap, gari, pastries, edible flours for meals consumed as 'swallows' with soups and sauces, local beverages (kunu and juice), and bread. The leaves were cooked and consumed as conventional leafy vegetables.The Jumpstarting Orange-fleshed Sweetpotato through Diversified Markets Project is a three-year project that began in April 2014 and that seeks to develop OFSP production and markets in Osun and Kwara states. The main activity on the production side has been strengthening the seed system's capacity through the identification and development of a system of decentralized vine multipliers able to provide planting material of high quality and to knowledgeably serve as marketers of their product to promote the crop as well. The primary market identified and promoted in Osun state is the school feeding program, and sweetpotato was successfully integrated into the school menu and is served to students in an expanding number of schools, starting with 8 schools and growing to 174 by December 2016. In Kwara state the focus was more on fresh root market sale and promotion of processed products, emphasizing both the nutritional value and the profitability of the crop. In Kwara the project sponsored a number of participants to the 'Everything you ever wanted to know about sweetpotato' training-of-trainers' course run by ARMTI. In all its areas of engagement, CIP's approach has been to work closely with federal and state institutions, including the O-Meal School Feeding Program of Osun State, the ADPs in Kwara and Osun states, and a host of other public and private sector partners.The Sweetpotato Action for Security and Health in Africa (SASHA) Project is a 10-year research project designed to improve the food security and health of poor families in sub-Saharan Africa by exploiting the untapped potential of sweetpotato. SASHA is part of the continent-wide Sweetpotato for Profit and Health Initiative (SPHI) co-led by CIP and FARA that aims to reach 10 million households across Africa by 2020. Since July 2015 the SASHA Project has collaborated with NRCRI, Umudike, to develop and test a model for sustainable pre-basic seed production for the timely availability of quality sweetpotato planting materials. Activities are implemented at the two stations of NRCRI in Abia and Osun states and in Kano and Kaduna states. These are important sweetpotato producing areas, and seed production activities are being linked with institutional markets for roots. The specific objectives are to:  Ensure increased capacity for the production of high quality sweetpotato planting materials by the public and private sectors;  Enhance the awareness and commercialization of high quality sweetpotato planting material among stakeholders;  Establish a quality assurance system for sweetpotato pre-basic seed and quality declared seed.SASHA's achievements to date include infrastructure improvement, training in tissue culture micropropagation and screen house management, production of 75,000 pre-basic cuttings, and drafting of seed standards for sweetpotato quality-declared planting material.SASHA has collaborated with the Nigerian government, particularly NRCRI, to provide backstopping for breeding efforts at NRCRI through provision of germplasm and supporting multilocational trials, leading to the official release of the first OFSP variety for Nigeria, Mother's Delight. Further, breeders at NRCRI and other institutions have participated in regional and continental communities of practice, strengthening the national capacity and the regional integration of sweetpotato breeding efforts.BNFB is a three-year project running from November 2015 to October 2018 and is funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. It seeks to reduce hidden hunger by catalyzing sustainable investment for the utilization at scale of the biofortified crops vitamin A cassava, vitamin A maize, vitamin A sweetpotato and iron rich beans. The project is being implemented in Nigeria and Tanzania to demonstrate how multiple biofortified crops can be scaled up together at the country level. The project is led by CIP, which along with CIAT, CIMMYT, CIP, IITA, HarvestPlus and FARA, forms the consortium of six core partners implementing the project. These work together with national implementing partners on advocacy, policy development, nutrition education, and behavior change communication for demand creation, capacity strengthening and institutional learning to support the scaling up of multiple biofortified crops. The project has two specific objectives: to strengthen the enabling environment for investments in biofortified crops and to strengthen institutional and community capabilities to produce and consume biofortified crops.Farmers and consumers' knowledge and understanding of biofortification play important roles in two main respects. They help farmers in the adoption of biofortified crops for production and consumption at the family level and they help consumers understand the nutritional and health benefits of biofortified crops and, hence, the importance of consuming them at the household level. Figure 5.6 shows farmers and consumers' awareness levels on the existence of biofortified sweetpotato, cassava and maize in Nigeria.The study found awareness on biofortification to be high among farmers but low among consumers. Figure 6 indicates that 61% of the surveyed farmers were aware of the existence of at least one biofortified crop in the study area, while 62% of the consumers were not aware of the existence of any of the biofortified sweetpotato, cassava or maize in Nigeria. This finding has implications for the work to increase the levels of consumption of these crops. Behavior change communication and social marketing, tailored to the specific biofortified products and market contexts, can be used to increase awareness and overcome this limitation.At the state level, awareness on the biofortified crops among farmers was highest in Benue, at 83.8%, followed by Kaduna, at 79%, Akwa-Ibom at, 70% and Taraba and Osun, at 56.7% (Figure 7). Awareness on the biofortified crops among farmers was lowest in Enugu and then Kwara. With respect to consumers, awareness on biofortified sweetpotatoes, cassava and maize in Nigeria was high only in Benue, where more than 83% of the consumers indicated that they were familiar with biofortified crops. In the rest of states, less than half of the consumers were aware of the existence of biofortified sweetpotatoes, cassava or maize.The level of awareness among farmers on the individual crops was highest for sweetpotatoes, with 55.1% of the farmers claiming awareness of it, followed by cassava, with 39.9% of the farmers. Only 5% of the farmers were aware of the existence of biofortified maize. The low awareness on biofortified maize may be attributed to the fact that it was introduced to famers later than the other two crops (see Table 3). OFSP and cassava were released in December 2012 and 2011, respectively, while orange maize was released in 2014. The study also sought to determine what farmers and consumers' sources of information were with respect to awareness and knowledge on the existence of the biofortified sweetpotatoes, cassava and maize. Figure 8 shows that for the farmers the sources of information were mainly markets, friends and ADPs, while for the consumers friends were the most important source, then markets, followed by community events. For the purpose of advocacy and sensitization on the existence and importance of biofortified crops there is need for the integration of radio and television channels, as studies have proven their effectiveness in information dissemination, particularly for low income farmers in rural Nigeria.Although farmers and consumer's knowledge on the existence of biofortified crops is vitally important, their understanding of the rationale behind the introduction of biofortified crops is more crucial as it has implications for farmers' adoption and production of the crops, as well as consumers' preferences and consumption of the crops. There was a generally a low level of knowledge among consumers on the benefits of biofortification of crops, and only 25.6% of them accurately named those benefits, compared with 78% of farmers (Figure 9). This calls for more targeted advocacy and awareness campaigns focusing on nutrition education among consumers throughout the country.  Production of biofortified crops is one of the necessary conditions for their consumption. Hence, it is germane to determine the existing production level for the biofortified crops in Nigeria. At the same time, the consumption of biofortified crops and their products is of utmost importance in the effort to reduce micronutrient deficiency among poor households. This section examines the extant production and consumption patterns of biofortified crops and their products in Nigeria.It was important to establish the proportion of farmers cultivating conventional varieties of sweetpotatoes, cassava and maize among the sampled population. Figure 10 indicates that 51.8% of the farmers cultivated sweetpotatoes, 78.9% cultivated cassava and 92% cultivated maize. Cassava and maize were consumed as staple foods across the length and breadth of Nigeria and this may explain the high numbers of farmers planting them. The study sought to find out whether farmers planted the biofortified varieties and for what purpose. While 42.2% of the farmers planted biofortified sweetpotatoes, only 33.3% and 15% of the farmers farmed biofortified cassava and maize, respectively. This is despite the fact that cassava and maize are the staple crops in the survey states (Figure 11). Overall, only 30.2% of the farmers were   Figure 12 shows that the dominantly cultivated biofortified crop varied by state. Yellow cassava was dominant in Benue, Osun and Akwa-Ibom states and was planted by 89.1%, 67% and 53.7% of the farmers, respectively. OFSP was popular in Kwara, Kaduna and Taraba and was cultivated by 70%, 61.9% and 55.7% of the farmers, respectively. There was no state among those in the survey where biofortified maize was the most cultivated among the three crops. This calls for more advocacy, sensitization campaigns and awareness creation among farmers across the states in Nigeria on the availability of biofortified maize. The staple food preferences in the states may account for the variations in the numbers of farmers planting the biofortified crops. Cassava is the common staple food in Akwa-Ibom, Enugu, Osun and Benue, while sweetpotato is a common staple food in Taraba, Kwara and Kaduna states. For the majority the farmers, cultivation of biofortified crops was mainly for local consumption, and only 30.3% of the respondents cultivated the crops for sale (Figure 13). The low proportion of famers cultivating the crops for commercial purposes has implications for the quantity of biofortified crops in the market and the volumes available for consumers to purchase. It is also an indication of the level of awareness on the existence of biofortified crops among farmers. The study found that most of the farmers had 1-2 ha for planting biofortified crops and only 6.9% of the farmers had allocated more than 5 ha to biofortified crops (Figure 14). The small size of land that farmers were willing to put aside for biofortified crops has implications for the quantity of the crops produced and the quantity made available to consumers for purchase.Although it is possible to plant three crop cycles of OFSP in a year, most farmers planted only one (Figure 15). The level of consumption of sweetpotato, cassava and maize and their products was of interest to the study. Figure 16 shows that almost all the respondents consumed all the three crops. The predominant types of sweetpotato, cassava and maize consumed by the respondents were the white types, which are not biofortified (Figure 17). Incidentally, fewer than 3% of the respondents indicated consuming biofortified sweetpotato, cassava or maize. The main reason the non-white sweetpotato, cassava and maize were consumed was their availability (Figure 18). For sweetpotato, however, slightly more households consumed it for its nutritional value than its availability. Consumption of biofortified crops and food products appeared to be influenced by the educational attainment of the consumers. For instance, 82% of OFSP consumers, 77.4% of the yellow cassava consumers and 87.5% of orange maize consumers had at least a minimum of secondary school level education. Consumer location also was an important factor in the consumption patterns for the biofortified crops, with OFSP and maize having more urban consumers, at 41.8% and 53.2%, respectively, than rural consumers, who were at 39.6% for OFSP and 33.6% for maize. Yellow cassava, however, had more rural than urban consumers, who were at 35.8% and 29.1%, respectively.Household consumption of biofortified crops as staples was influenced also by the taste and texture of the produce or by-products. The majority of OFSP consumers preferred to fry or consume it raw just as they would eat a carrot, because its taste was poor when boiled. In northern Nigeria maize is consumed mostly as 'tuwo', a local staple. Consumers of tuwo prefer white maize because of its superior texture compared to vitamin A maize. This is the reason many farmers who grow maize commercially prefer to grow the white type.Mostly, biofortified food crops were consumed only occasionally and depended on whether their consumers came across them while shopping (Table 4). The main factors considered in the purchase of the products included texture, appearance, taste and serving options. The findings demonstrate that there is a slow uptake of biofortified crops and products among farmers and consumers in Nigeria. The factors responsible for that in regard the three crops of sweetpotato, cassava and maize in the study states are summarized in Table 5 and discussed in the following paragraphs.The main factors affecting the scaling up of biofortified sweetpotatoes included poor access to vines, low awareness on the crop and pest infestation problems. In the case of cassava, the lower starch content of the biofortified cassava compared with the white types, oversupply of the crop and the absence of collaboration among agricultural stakeholders in the state were the main issues. With respect to biofortified maize, the texture was perceived by farmers and consumers as too hard.The main factors hindering the expansion of biofortified sweetpotatoes included pest infestation when the roots stayed too long in the ground after maturity, and the poor access to vines. In the case of biofortified cassava, the problems cited were the lack of collaboration between the state's agricultural associations and the agricultural development program, the unavailability of stems even when farmers were willing to pay for them, and the activities of Fulani herders that destroyed the first planting for many farmers. The main factor identified for maize was the low awareness on its existence among the farmers in the state.The scaling up of biofortified sweetpotato was hampered by its low demand, the absence of accessible markets in which to sell the roots, pest infestation if the roots stayed too long in the ground after maturity, cracking of the roots, and the high moisture content of the roots. Biofortified cassava's expansion was affected by its lower starch content compared with local types, its low awareness among consumers, its poor patronage even in the local markets, and spoilage. The main challenge for biofortified maize was the high preference of consumers for white maize over provitamin A maize.The main difficulties for biofortified sweetpotatoes included its poor awareness, the low demand expected by the growers, and pest infestation if the roots stayed too long in the ground after maturity. In the case of cassava, the constant destruction of the crop by cattle brought by herders to graze, its low awareness among consumers and poor patronage in the local markets were the main difficulties. Other factors included spoilage and poor access to affordable farm equipment for mechanized farming. The main challenge for maize was the farmers' inability to differentiate between biofortified and conventional maize.The slow uptake of biofortified sweetpotato was influenced by farmers' poor access to markets to sell the roots and pest infestation of the roots. In the case of cassava, the factors were several. First, large-scale buyers and processors wanted the cassava tubers to be freshly harvested, a condition that many of the farmers complained was not feasible, as they needed about two days to harvest and transport the crop. Also, the prices offered by the factories were too low to meet the production costs and profit expectations of farmers. These are major constraints to the commercial farmers, who are forced to sell their harvest to small-scale buyers and to reduce their production. There are also the problems of low starch and high moisture content of the yellow cassava. The uptake of yellow maize is hampered by the poor access to land and to subsidized agricultural inputs and materials.The factors responsible for the slow uptake of biofortified sweetpotato included problems of pest infestation, cracking of the tubers, and the poor taste of the OFSP relative to the conventional varieties. In the case of cassava, the issues included (1) low awareness among consumers on the crop and its products, (2) general perception that it was meant for only sick people, (3) marketing challenges, which had forced some farmers to lower their production, (4) low starch content, which is a major detriment since a high starch content is a key requirement for consumers, and (5) poor access to the stems. The main hindrances for biofortified maize included its low awareness among consumers, the lack of markets in which to sell it and pest infestation.The main challenges for biofortified sweetpotato included the incessant pest infestation and the low awareness among farmers and consumers on the crop. Biofortified cassava upscaling was hindered by its low awareness in the states and marketing problems. The main factors considered by the farmers to affect biofortified maize expansion included its low awareness among consumers, poor access to markets and pest infestation There has not been a conclusive definition of the term disadvantaged group because the definitions out there are based on the respective scholar's perspective. So terms such as poor group, vulnerable group and weak competition rival 31 are commonly used interchangeably for disadvantaged groups. But they have one point in common: the main feature of disadvantaged groups is that they comprise people in a disfavored position in the society who are poor in their material life owing to barriers they cannot overcome or to the lack of economic, political or social opportunities. In this report, the concept of disadvantaged groups refers to clusters of people or individuals in those circumstances. Such groups include the poor male and female farmers in rural communities in Nigeria with limited access to the basic necessities of life. In the situation analysis the respondents were asked to identify the barriers that prevented such individuals from accessing and benefitting from biofortification in Nigeria. Table 6 shows those barriers. Cultural and individual preferences around some crops and their products were important bottlenecks for disadvantaged groups in accessing and benefitting from biofortified crops according to 55.4% of the respondents (Table 6). Individual preferences related to product attributes included taste and ease of preparation and cooking. Literature supports this finding, specifically the fact that low income consumers in developing countries are willing to trade off substantial caloric intake for preferred foods. 32 Credit market inefficiency was another major bottleneck for disadvantaged groups in accessing and benefiting from biofortification, as indicated by over 83% of the respondents. Disadvantaged groups have poor access to credit facilities, occasioned by the imperfect rural financial markets. Their inability to provide the needed collateral prevents them from borrowing to invest in crops such as biofortified crops and from insuring crops against the risk associated with experimenting with new crop varieties. This finding agrees with Croppenstedt et al.'s (2003) 33 study, which found that credit constraints significantly interfere with fertilizer adoption. Some 77.3% of the respondents considered informational inefficiencies as a barrier for disadvantaged groups. Biofortified crops, which are particularly beneficial to disadvantaged groups, will not be taken up without information about their value or about how to correctly use them.Studies have shown that the way information is presented can be as important as the content of the information itself. Certain groups may face larger information barriers if information is less accessible to them, such as women in the north.For 71.9% of the respondents input and output market inefficiencies were a bottleneck for the disadvantaged groups in accessing and benefiting from biofortified crops (Table 6). The high prices of fertilizer and other inputs were primary barriers in this regard. Many disadvantaged farmers are poor and are unable to access or pay for the inputs required for biofortified crops. They often have to deal with inadequate infrastructure, missing supply chains or unprofitably high prices. Their poverty status also prevents them from accessing information, which is a sine qua non for the adoption of any technology.Other barriers identified included land market inefficiencies and risk market inefficiencies, as well as low educational qualifications of the disadvantaged groups, which limited their capacity to access new knowledge (Table 6).According to North (1990), 34 institutions are composed of formal rules created by human beings such as statute law, common law and regulations; informal constraints such as conventions, norms of behavior and self-imposed codes of conduct; and the enforcement characteristics of both.Institutions play important roles in the effective and efficient performance of any system. For biofortification to gain the required adoption and to scale up in Nigeria, it requires an enabling institution. A review of the institutions that work in food and nutrition in Nigeria was undertaken to identify those that support the promotion of biofortification. The content of policy documents, policy implementation guidelines and presentations by the Federal Government of Nigeria relevant to agriculture, nutrition and food was analyzed. The study found that there was no specific governmental institution with biofortification promotion as its sole mandate. Although some research institutions such NRCRI were involved in biofortification research, that was not their core responsibility. In 1990 the Federal Government of Nigeria created the National Committee on Food and Nutrition to coordinate and provide leadership in the drawing up and articulation of a comprehensive policy and actions that would considerably reduce malnutrition or eliminate it altogether in the country. That committee at first was domiciled in the Federal Ministry of Science and Technology, but was moved to the Federal Ministry of Health in 1993. Now it is in the Ministry of Budget and National Planning. The National Committee on Food and Nutrition prepared the National Food and Nutrition Policy in 1995, which the federal government approved in 1998 and launched in November 2002. That policy set specific targets, which included the reduction of severe and moderate malnutrition among children under the age of five by 30% by 2010 and the reduction of micronutrient deficiencies, principally in vitamin A, iodine and iron, by 50% by 2010. The efforts to achieve these goals included the fortification of staple foods with vitamin A so that children would naturally consume vitamin A in their food. This resulted in vitamin A fortification of 70% of sugar, 100% of wheat flour and 55% of the vegetable oil on the market. The federal government also launched the Home-Grown School Feeding and Health Programme in September 2005 under the coordination of the Federal Ministry of Education. That program aimed to provide one nutritionally adequate meal during the school day. Nigeria has recently embarked on the management of severe acute malnutrition and currently has over 495 community sites across northern Nigeria for the management of acute malnutrition. 35 The Nutrition Division, which is located in the Ministry of Budgets and National Planning, currently serves as the convening government body responsible for scaling up nutrition. It is responsible for bringing together various government ministries and departments including the ministries of health, education, agriculture, women affairs, finance, information, science and technology, and water resources, and the planning commission. All relevant ministries also are engaged through the Nutrition Partners Forum, which meets at least four times annually with its partners, including national and international NGOs, United Nations agencies, donors, businesses and the media, to work on strategy development and take decisions relating to funding and nutrition emergencies. The absence of a specific institution whose key mandate is promoting and supporting biofortification activities is a major drawback in the effort to reduce micronutrient deficiencies in Nigeria.As evidence in favor of biofortification builds up stakeholders are increasingly interested in investing in it to reduce micronutrient deficiency. Investment in biofortification is rated as cost-effective. Hoddinott et al. (2013) 36 estimate that every dollar invested in programs to reduce stunting would generate between USD 24.40 and USD 26.60 in economic returns. According to the World Bank 37 investing in nutrition can increase a country's gross domestic product by at least 3% annually. A recent study by HarvestPlus 38 that used country-level data to rank countries according to their suitability for investment in biofortification interventions identified Nigeria as a top priority country for benefiting from biofortification. The projected total cost of scaling up biofortification of only yellow cassava in Nigeria was USD 25 million. This value is obtained from the ex-ante assessment of biofortification in Nigeria. 39 Funding for biofortification in Nigeria comes from internal and external sources. The internal sources are mainly the federal government and its agencies. However, biofortification funding is limited by the absence of a supportive institutional framework backed by law. There are nine types of actors in the biofortified crops' value chains in Nigeria: farmers, local collectors, national traders, wholesalers, retailers, agroprocessors, home consumers, national agricultural research institutes and the variety release committee. National level traders are the pivotal actors in the national market as they collect the produce from farmers or local collectors in the various states and transport it to the markets in the big cities using hired trailers. From there, wholesalers distribute the produce to retailers to be sold to agroprocessors. Farmers often sell their produce directly to agroprocessors or consumers to improve their profit margin, though they may also sell it to the local collectors or retailers for lower prices. Like the rest of Nigeria's agriculture, OFSP, yellow cassava and orange maize production is entirely dependent on smallholder farmers. But farmers are constrained by factors related to input availability and supply, financing, reliability of markets, marketing logistics, and technical and business knowledge. Without exception, the value chains of the biofortified crops are currently weak and suffer from inadequacies in human and financial resources, institutional structures and infrastructure. In addition to their almost negligible scale in farming, compared to other crops biofortified crops' value chains are plagued with limited production and marketing knowledge and capacity; underdeveloped infrastructure; poor access to finance; an absence of backward investment, especially in processing; and weak to nonexistent linkages between processors and farmers.Tables 7-9 present the constraints and proposed interventions in the value chains of the three targeted biofortified crops in Nigeria.     Many countries have seen rapid acceptance of biofortification by government entities, and national governments have proactively integrated it into their agriculture and nutrition policies. Panama and Colombia were among the first countries to include biofortification in their national food security plans. Biofortification has been included in national nutrition strategies in Rwanda, Ethiopia and Zambia. 43 While Nigeria has a complex and multisectoral policy landscape in the areas of food and nutrition, the integration of biofortification in the agriculture and nutrition policies has received little attention from the government. In this section we map out the government policies, strategies and plans that target the promotion of biofortification.The Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development is the custodian of the agriculture policy launched in 2001. The policy promotes import substitution and private sector investment in agriculture. The key objectives of the policy are to achieve domestic self-sufficiency in the major food crops, improve the number of value-added products and increase Nigeria's agricultural exports. need to urgently reduce the high level of malnutrition in Nigeria. The strategy provides for the use of biofortification as a micronutrient deficiency control strategy and aims to promote biofortified staples such as rice and maize in addition to pro-vitamin A cassava and OFSP.The food and nutrition policy was published in 2014. It focuses on addressing the scourge of malnutrition in Nigeria. The policy provides the framework for addressing the problems of food and nutrition insecurity at the individual, household, community and national levels. It provides guidelines for the identification, design and implementation of interventions across the different relevant sectors. The primary focus of the policy is on direct interventions that focus on increasing production and improving processing of agricultural produce. The strategies proposed for addressing vitamin A deficiency include supplementation, fortification and dietary diversification. 44The national guidelines on micronutrients' deficiencies control in Nigeria were published by the Ministry of Health in 2013. These guidelines are one of the main policy documents in Nigeria that recognize biofortification as a viable long-term strategy for the prevention and control of vitamin A deficiency.The policy on science, technology and innovation launched by the Ministry of Science and Technology in 2012 has as its core mission the evolution of a new Nigeria that harnesses, develops and utilizes science, technology and innovation to build a large, strong, diversified, sustainable and competitive economy that guarantees a high standard of living and quality of life to its citizens. While there are no nutrition considerations in this policy, it has provisions for biotechnology research.The nutrition component of the 2006 school health policy of the Ministry of Education is the school feeding program, which aims to provide one adequate meal a day to all children enrolled in schools nationwide. The policy builds upon the government's current National Home-Grown School Feeding and Health Programme, which aims to contribute to the realization of the national and international development goals. So far, there are five policies in Nigeria that target malnutrition as an area of intervention but only two of them mention biofortification specifically as a strategy for addressing micronutrient deficiency. Several gaps can be identified with respect to policy support for biofortified foods:The focus of the agriculture policy remains on increasing yields for staple crops such as rice, cassava, maize, sorghum etc. and is silent on biofortified crops even though they are nutrient dense.Nutrition policies focus on direct interventions and largely neglect food-based nutrition approaches. An exception to this is the mandatory fortification of selected food items.The policies focusing on food supplementation are being implemented by the health sector, especially vitamin A distribution. Implementation of policies on mandatory food fortification has had varying levels of success. Overall, the current policy environment in Nigeria does not promote biofortification overtly. Apart from the agriculture policy and the national guidelines on micronutrients' deficiencies control in Nigeria, no other government policy document targets biofortification as a strategy for addressing micronutrient deficiency. The absence of an institutional framework with the sole mandate of promoting biofortification may account for this. However, some initiatives in the national guidelines on micronutrients' deficiencies control and the agriculture policy that are relevant to the BNFB mandate can be leveraged to facilitate the scaling up of biofortification.This report presents the findings of the situation analysis that was aimed at gathering analytical data and information that establishes the baseline status of the key thematic components of the project and key actors responsible for realizing the objectives of the BNFB Project in Nigeria. The following are the main findings from the empirical analyses with respect to the seven general objectives of the situation analysis, the conclusions and key areas of interventions necessary for scale up of biofortification, and recommendations.Objective 1: Use available data and other information to accurately identify the key actors in the scaling up of biofortified crops and the trends and patterns of consumption of biofortified crops and their products, disaggregated by relevant segments of the country and of the population.There were several key actors involved in the scaling up of biofortified crops in Nigeria. These included international partners such as HarvestPlus, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Catholic Relief Services, Helen Keller International, CIP, UNICEF and IITA as well as national partners and research institutes such as the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development and NRCRI.The first variety of pro-vitamin A cassava was approved for release in Nigeria in late 2011 and about half a million Nigerian farm households were growing its varieties.The level of awareness on biofortification was high among farmers but low among consumers. Over 60% of the farmers surveyed were aware of the existence of biofortified sweetpotatoes, cassava and maize but over 61% of the consumers were not aware of the existence of these crops.  Among the states, farmers' awareness on biofortification was highest in Benue, at 83.8%, followed by Kaduna, at 79%, Akwa-Ibom, at 70%, Taraba, at 56.9% and Osun, at 56.7%. Among consumers, awareness of the existence of biofortified sweetpotatoes, cassava and maize was high only in Benue state, at 83%.The level of farmers' awareness on the biofortified crops was highest for OFSP, at 55.1%, and then cassava, at 39.9%. Only 5% of the respondents were aware of the existence of biofortified maize.The main source of information on the existence of biofortified crops was markets, which was the source for 48.2% of the farmers, friends for 24% of the farmers and ADPs for 14.8% of the farmers. The sources of information for consumers included friends for 39.3% of them, markets for 33.1% of them and ADPs for 12.7% of them.There was a general low level of awareness among consumers on the benefits of biofortification of crops. Only 25.6% of them accurately identified the benefits of biofortification, compared with 78% of the farmers. Some 42.2% of the farmers planted biofortified sweetpotatoes, 33.3% planted biofortified cassava and 15% planted biofortified maize. Overall, only 30.2% of the farmers planted biofortified crops.About 61.1% of the farmers planting biofortified crops cultivated them mainly for consumption, while only 30.3% of them cultivated them for sale.The predominant types of sweetpotatoes, cassava or maize consumed by the respondents were the white types, which are not biofortified. Fewer than 3% of the respondents consumed the non-white varieties of these crops.The consumption of biofortified crops and food products was influenced by the consumers' level of education and location, and the taste and texture of the products.Objective 2: Identify and analyze the barriers and bottlenecks that prevent disadvantaged groups from accessing and benefiting from biofortification, including the social, political and economic conditions that result in shortfalls in the creation of an enabling environment for the scaling up of biofortification.The main barriers disadvantaged groups faced in accessing and benefiting from biofortification included cultural and individual preferences relating to the product attributes; inefficiencies in the credit market, information access, and input and output markets; and their low education levels.Objective 4: Analyze the extent to which biofortification is prioritized in national policies, law, strategies, plans and budgets. There were five key policies in Nigeria that target malnutrition, but only two specifically mentioned biofortification as a strategy for addressing micronutrient deficiency.The following gaps were identified with respect to policy support for biofortified foods:-The focus of the agriculture policy remained on increasing yields of staple crops; -Nutrition policies focused on direct interventions and largely neglected food-based approaches; -The policy environment in Nigeria did not overtly promote biofortification.Objective 5: Analyze government's (and its agencies') policy and funding priorities as far as nutrition and biofortification are concerned.The sources of funding for biofortification in Nigeria were internal and external. The internal sources were mainly related to the federal government, while the main external sources were HarvestPlus and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.Another source of funding was the New Alliance for Food Security and Nutrition.Objective 6: Analyze current institutional and structural bottlenecks to address in order to unlock the value chain for the biofortified crops in the country, including the varietal release policies/criteria and the biofortified varieties currently in the pipeline (for release).  There were nine types of actors in the biofortified crops value chain in Nigeria -farmers, local collectors, national traders, wholesalers, retailers, agroprocessors, home consumers, national agricultural research institutes and the variety release committee.The key constraints in the yellow cassava value chain included underutilization of cassava tubers for industrial purposes, weak linkages between the industrial users of cassava products and processors, poor market information, unavailability of inputs, poor finance, and the short shelf life of yellow cassava roots.The key constraints in the OFSP value chain included the low uptake of the crop in processing, low productivity of smallholder farmers, poor access to farm inputs, low awareness among consumers on the nutritional value of OFSP, poor linkages among farmers and processors of OFSP, short shelf life of OFSP roots, poor market outlay, and poor multisectoral coordination and collaboration among OFSP stakeholders in Nigeria.The key constraints in the maize value chain included insufficient knowledge on good agricultural and postharvest practices; limited knowledge on soil management practices, crop nutrient requirements and other agronomic essentials; aflatoxin contamination; storage pests such as mice, rats and other rodents, which were a source of notable damage to stored maize grain; low yield; and low rates of adoption of the improved technical package by farmers.The quantity of food returned after processing was lower for pro-vitamin A cassava than for conventional cassava, and pro-vitamin A cassava products were more expensive than conventional cassava products.The poor packaging method used by processors for preserving pro-vitamin A content was one of the major institutional bottlenecks.The unavailability of seeds is an important challenge that must be addressed.The inadequacy of the laboratory facilities, which are important for research geared towards improving the texture, taste and color of the biofortified crops, was a key institutional problem.This study gives a clear picture of the situation in Nigeria with respect to BNFB objectives and indicators, and also contributes to improving the understanding on the gaps and the actions vital for the scaling up of biofortification in Nigeria. These outcomes will be useful in designing strategic interventions for scaling up biofortified crops for nutrition security in Nigeria. The following recommendations emanate from the findings of the study:  CIP and HarvestPlus should target more advocacy programs at raising the awareness level on the existence of biofortified crops in Nigeria.  CIP should aim for the use of media channels such as television and radio for awareness creation and sensitization programs for stakeholders on the existence and importance of biofortified crops for their health.  -Farmers: on-farm demonstrations on agronomic practices that increase yield and on storage of biofortified crops; -OFSP processors: new processing approaches that improve the taste, texture and dry matter content of the roots and processed products; -Researchers: techniques to develop new biofortified crops with high yields, resistance to diseases and pests, short maturity period, good taste and high nutritive value. "}

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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"1a5565b97cd50d301fe440ea5234e480","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/05ccc09f-3b56-4508-9031-fdacc3e8695a/retrieve","id":"985029898"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"f2f663b9-3300-4753-a4bd-2e82d2d12afe","content":"Transfer of Technology Models (TOTEMs) are highly focussed educational tools providing relevant information and distance training on one specific area of bamboo/rattan management, processing or utilization. They are a means of technology transfer between similar regions throughout the world, with the emphasis on South-South transfer for livelihood development. They enable those involved in the management and use of bamboo and rattan resources to more efficiently and effectively develop and use skills relating to these resources.They are primarily intended as practical information resources and teaching aids for those at the local extension level in their communities, who can utilize them to assist local community development through the establishment of appropriate rural enterprises. Each TOTEM consists of a detailed written report of the technology, a PowerPoint presentation, a film, and, where relevant, a set of technical photographs. They also include information on target users, financial analyses of sample set-ups from the partner country preparing the report, and information on where to source particular technologies (such as equipment). The TOTEM thus provides all the information required for establishing similar technologies within interested countries and regions.• The report contains all the technical details of the process being studied, as well as other relevant information for establishing the technology such as costs of business establishment, running costs and cash flows.• The PowerPoint presentation contains details of the relevant technologies and their applications, and is intended to provide an overview of the potential of the technology for development.• The film provides a visual guide to the processes involved and helps to bring them alive in the minds of the learners.The different parts of the TOTEM are targeted at slightly different audiences, via the local extension workers. The report and film are intended to be the main means of extension to the individuals and communities who will implement the technology and who will directly benefit from it. The PowerPoint presentation is primarily intended as a tool for the extension worker to sell the technology and its role in development to those who provide the infrastructural, policy and financial support for its implementation, such as government departments, donors and NGOs.There is considerable flexibility, however. Local extension workers will be able to incorporate the TOTEMs in their own work as they wish and adapt and develop the TOTEM to suit their particular requirements and conditions.This TOTEM on bamboo mat board has been produced by the Indian Plywood Industries Training and Research Institute (IPIRTI), Bangalore, India. It may be used alone, or in conjunction with the TOTEM on the Bamboo Splitting and Slivering Unit, which has also been produced by IPIRTI and the TOTEM on bamboo roofing panels, produced by the Forest Science Institute, Hanoi, Vietnam.This report describes the technology for producing and establishing Bamboo Mat Board (BMB)making facilities for rural development in regions where bamboo is available as a raw material. It is intended to be used in conjunction with the illustrative film included in this TOTEM package. The first part of the report introduces the technology, discusses its history, its development attributes and its benefits and limitations. The second part of the report provides detailed information on the technical aspects of the manufacture of BMB. Appendixes I -III provide full financial analyses for establishing and running a bamboo mat board-making enterprise. Appendix IV lists companies presently producing matboard. Appendix V lists source companies producing the machines and materials required for mat board making. Finally Appendix VI gives national standards for matboard from India and China.The mat board production technology and methods presented in this report are not the only means of producing bamboo mat board, but have been tried and tested and are currently in commercial use. Using the information in this TOTEM it will be possible to establish a successful mat board factory. For the sake of completeness, brief notes are given at important points in the text where alternatives are suitable, and the user referred to the bibliography for further details if required.This TOTEM is one of the first to be produced by INBAR/IPIRTI and your feedback is most welcome -kindly contact INBAR or IPIRTI with your comments or suggestions.Note 1: This TOTEM has been edited at INBAR and differs slightly from the form in which it was received from IPIRTI.Note 2: All financial calculations are in Indian Rupees (Rs). At the time of writing 1 USD = 46 Rs. One lakh Rs = 100, 000 Rs.What is Bamboo Mat Board?Bamboo mat board (BMB) is a plywood-like wooden board made from layers of woven bamboo mats that have been pressed together. It is usually made of three layers of mats and is about 3 mm thick. It can be produced in a range of standard sizes.Bamboo mat board has similar properties to plywood, and is sufficiently rigid and flexible to substitute for it in a wide range of applications. Bamboo mat board can be used for paneling, ceilings, prefabricated shelters, packing cases, storage bins, roofs, doors and door panels, furniture and household utensils such as trays and plates. BMB is also used in concrete formwork.Bamboo mat board is produced by the following stages: The market for BMB is large and ever increasing although figures are not presently available. The wide range of uses to which it is put means the market has considerable potential for expansion and BMB also has significant export potential.The production of mats is labour intensive and difficult to mechanise. Bamboo mat board has enormous income generating potential for the rural poor and particularly for women, who make up the vast majority of weavers. By 1997 in India the eight BMB factories in operation were generating 2.5 million workdays per year for matweavers and during the five years to 1997, demand was such that the price for individual mats increased from 17 Rupees each to 55 Rupees. Substituting BMB for plywood also reduces the pressure on timber forests.Establishing a bamboo mat board making enterprise requires a regular supply of bamboo mats, electricity, labour and access to markets. A BMB small enterprise with a capacity of 100 moulded trays per day may be established with as little as USD 20,000 (in India), or a unit with a capacity of 129, 000 sheets per year established for USD 400, 000. Bamboo mat boards (BMB) are produced from woven mats of bamboo that are soaked in adhesive resin and then pressed firmly together in a hot press. They were the first of the wide range of different panel boards presently available that use bamboo as a raw material, but they are the simplest to produce, involve only bamboo raw materials and have great income generating potential for the rural poor, who are able to weave the mats from which they are formed. The technology for the manufacture of BMB in India has been developed by the Indian Plywood Industries Research Institute (IPIRTI), Bangalore, who have developed a technically feasible and commercially viable technology for its manufacture. BMB is gaining in popularity and there are currently a handful of BMB factories in operation in India and 16 in China.Bamboo mat board is very versatile and can be produced up to 6 mm thick by varying the number of mat layers used; boards are usually formed of 2, 3, 5 or 7 mats. For thicker laminated boards, wood veneers are interleaved with the bamboo boards to produce bamboo mat-veneer composite boards (The production of these is not covered in this TOTEM). BMB is at least as durable and stable as wood-based plywood and is very resistant to pest attack, extreme climatic conditions and fire. It can be used for many of the uses to which plywood is now put such as paneling, ceilings, prefabricated shelters, packing cases and storage bins, roofs, doors and door panels, furniture, and household utensils such as trays and plates. BMB is much more flexible than wood-based-plywood and can be used in structural applications such as stressed skin panels, wall bracings and web beams for which plywood is not suitable.The first recorded production of bamboo based panels was in China during the mid 1940s where bamboo mat board bonded with casein (enamel) glues was used in the interior of aeroplanes as an alternative to aircraft-grade plywood. At about the same time research was initiated in India to develop synthetic resin-bonded bamboo mat board, for which the technology became available a decade and a half later. Since then, research has been carried out in several countries and over 30 types of panel products have been developed -some made of bamboo only and others of bamboo in combination with wood, lignocellulosic materials and inorganic materials. Research and development efforts have been mostly confined to countries of the Asia-Pacific region i.e. China, India, Indonesia, Japan, Laos, Malaysia, Philippines, Taiwan, Thailand and Vietnam. Canada (in collaboration with Costa Rica) is the only country outside Asia where research on bamboo panels is being carried out.Although there was some pioneering work in Taiwan and innovative products such as plybamboo (bamboo glue-lam) were developed, the bamboo board industry is reported to be facing extinction there due to the sharp increase in wages and shortages of raw materials. In Thailand, the only product manufactured is bamboo mat board glued with Urea Formaldehyde (UF) resin and this is mainly produced for export. In countries such as Laos, the Philippines and Vietnam, interest in bamboo matboard production is relatively new, and the industries there are presently in the phase of exploratory studies and experimental or pilot scale production.Bamboo is gaining importance as a replacement for wood in flooring and roofing panels and other housing components (such as windows, doors and partition panels), in furniture and in packing cases. Some of these products are made of bamboo mat board, some have a core of bamboo mats with thin veneer facings and others are made of laminated bamboo slabs/strips of different sizes and shapes (bamboo parquet and floorboards). In some products, wood veneer or shavings are used to give a wood-like appearance to the surface.At present, China has developed the largest number of bamboo based panel products and produces annually approximately 250,000 cubic metres in about 250 manufacturing units. The most popular panel product is bamboo mat plywood (about 100,000 cubic metres) followed by bamboo curtain board, bamboo strip board, bamboo lath board, bamboo based particle board, bamboo flooring panels and bamboo moulded products.Bamboo based panels developed in some countries, particularly China, have been covered under patents and details are usually not available.In India, research efforts to make panels from bamboo were initiated in the mid 1950s at the Forest Research Institute, Dehra Dun. In the 1960s this institute developed the first manufacturing process. However, high production costs inhibited commercialization of the process. Research and development efforts were revived at IPIRTI in 1979 and a second and cost-efficient manufacturing process was developed for the production of bamboo matboard.In 1985 a factory was established in Angamally where the Kerala State Bamboo Corporation produces boards based on this new process. However, due to some inherent deficiencies, which will be noted in section 10, this technology was still not very suitable and did not become popular for enterprise development.For this reason, in 1990 IPIRTI undertook new studies to develop improved BMB under a project sponsored by the International Development Research Centre (IDRC), Canada. Under this project, a third, innovative and appropriate technology was developed for the production of high quality, economical BMB up to 6-mm thickness. This time IPIRTI was successful in solving the deficiencies and developing a suitable manufacturing process. According to a feasibility analysis conducted by the Agricultural Finance Corporation Ltd. (AFC), Mumbai, the current process is technically feasible and financially viable. In this way the potential of the BMB as a wood substitute has been demonstrated, as well as the techno-economic feasibility of its' manufacture.An updated annotated bibliography on bamboo-based panels was compiled based on these experiences and a manual was produced for the production of BMB. Some units in Meghalaya and Orissa States in India have successfully implemented the new technology.As a sign of it's appropriateness, the International Selection Commission of the World Expo 2000 earmarked the BMB technology developed at IPIRTI as an exemplary demonstration of the practical implementation of AGENDA 21. Consequently, the technology was registered as a World Project for Expo 2000.As explained previously, the BMB technology is suitable for the production of \"ecofriendly\" alternative panel products to substitute for wood and help conserve forest resources. Moreover, the technology can serve as a basis for economic development in rural areas.The main development attributes of the technology are as follows:• Reduced dependence on timber resources and natural forests due to an increased use of wood substitutes, leading to environmental protection. • Rehabilitation of degraded forests and other waste lands through increased areas of bamboo plantation. • Creation of employment opportunities in mat weaving, particularly for rural and tribal women, and in bamboo growing. • Improvement of peoples' skills, and enhancement of their earning capacities, leading to improved welfare of the economically weaker sections of society. • The production of mats is flexible in time and place, favoring part-time and homebound weavers (such as young and old people and housewives) who can continue working close to their own houses whenever they are free from other engagements Apart from the above development attributes, BMB has several advantages above other panel materials. The advantages of the BMB developed at IPIRTI are:• BMB is a very versatile panel material, is highly popular and \"environmentally friendly\". • The boards posses physical and mechanical properties on a par with waterproof plywood and have an excellent internal bond strengths, a high plane rigidity and hence high racking strength. • They are as durable and resistant to boiling water, weather and biological agencies (decay, insects and termite attack) as phenolic-bonded plywood.• They have better scratch and stain resistance properties than plywood.• They are as fire resistant as fire-retardant treated plywood.• They have a rich natural appearance.The BMB technology is suitable for bamboo-growing regions with sufficient raw material that are inhabited by traditionally skilled crafts people, or other (potential) bamboo mat weavers. Apart from regions with natural bamboo forests, BMB could be produced in regions where bamboo is grown on plantations or in homesteads. The technology is particularly suitable in regions where bamboo plantations are desirable for the restoration of degraded forests or wastelands such as abandoned shifting cultivation areas.The production of mats requires the use of large culmed species and the unit is therefore particularly suitable for tropical, subtropical and warm temperate regions where larger bamboos grow.The direct beneficiaries of the BMB technology will be the many traditionally-skilled rural and tribal people who make their living of weaving a variety of products from bamboo. In India the beneficiaries are especially housewives and young and very old people, who have time to spare, but who are unable to leave the house or are unfit to perform hard work. In areas where the depletion of natural forests results in the expenditure of foreign exchange for the import of wood, this money will be saved and the government and the nation will also benefit. The unit will also create employment opportunities for unskilled, semi-skilled and technically trained personnel who can be recruited locally.A major reason to use bamboo as an alternative in wood applications such as panels is the authenticity of the material and the cultural history of its use in bamboo-rich countries. In many parts of India, for example, bamboo is an important cultural feature. Since the beginning of civilization, bamboo has played an important role in the daily lives of Indian people. Bamboo craftwork is one of the oldest cottage industries primarily due to the versatility, strength and lightness of bamboo and to the ease with which it can be worked with simple hand tools. Bamboo has been put to use in various applications ranging from construction to household utensils. There are more than 1000 documented uses including an important industrial use in paper and pulp manufacturing. For this reason it is easy to involve local people in the making of bamboo mats and in the manufacturing of bamboo boards.Given the benefits for the many people involved, including governments and consumers, the market conditions for the production of bamboo matboards and for the development of related industries and businesses are favorable. As will be shown in the final sections of this report, the establishment of a small BMB-producing enterprise/factory/plant requires a considerable investment, while the BMB can be manufactured in an existing plywood factory with very few additional facilities and investment. All that is required in this case is a resin applicator and, eventually, a drying chamber.For the establishment of a new bamboo mat board-manufacturing unit the estimated capital investment (including land and building) is Rs.153.36 lakhs (approx. USD$ 333, 000) (Appendix I) and the estimated running costs are shown in Appendix II. In India, the establishment of such a unit would take place in the Small Scale Sector, and it would thereby become eligible for all incentives provided by the Government for this sector.As mentioned in the section on the history of the BMB technology, the earlier manufacturing processes developed in India, suffered from several drawbacks and resulted in low quality bamboo panels. These deficiencies were:• High quantities of resin required • Non-uniform bonding due to inadequacy, or even absence, of resin on slivers in the overlapped areas of mats • Unseemly appearance caused by resin pushed to the surface through the intersliver spaces during hot pressing • Frequent application of releasing agent required to prevent panels from sticking to metal caul plates • Limited durability.With the new process of BMB production, presented in part two of this report, most of these deficiencies can be overcome. Nevertheless, while initiating the production of such boards in a new factory, one should be aware of the potential shortcomings listed above.The essential requirements for successful implementation of BMB technology are:• Sustained availability of bamboos suitable for making BMB mats.• Traditionally skilled bamboo craftspeople with formal training to produce BMB mats.• Appropriate technologies, machinery and technically trained personnel to manage a BMB production unit.• Mechanisms to identify suitable markets and promote the sale of BMB in domestic and export markets. • Continued research and development support during commercialization to solve problems arising during the transfer of technology from laboratory to production unit. • The availability of inexpensive labor is essential to the viability of a bamboo matboard based on the manual weaving of mats. As has been shown in Taiwan, the financial sensitivity of the labour input is high.• Concerted efforts are required to explore the possibilities of value addition through appropriate end use applications. • Further research and development efforts are required to commercialize the technologies already developed in laboratory-scale experiments, and to explore the potential of this versatile material to the fullest extent. • Additional research and development efforts should be employed to analyse and improve the activities, skills and benefits of the different people involved in the BMB production chain. • Extension and training activities could enlarge the efficiency and sustainability of the production of bamboos, matweaving and commercialization, and improve the income effect and distribution of benefits for the people involved.The bamboo mat board technology is a commercially and socially effective means of processing bamboo into quality endproducts for the construction, packaging and transport sectors. Its development attributes imply considerable scope for income and welfare improvement for rural poor people. In addition it enables governments and wood-based industries to cope with the problem of wood shortages and to reduce environmental degradation due to overharvesting of timber trees. If properly organised and guided by private enterprises, state agencies and/or NGOs, the technology as well as its backward and forward linkages can increase the income and welfare of many people in a sustainable manner.BAMBOO MAT BOARDBamboo mat board is produced by a simple technical process comprising the following main steps:1) Mat making (raw material preparation).2) Application of adhesive/binder to mats.3) Assembling of mats in preparation for pressing. 4) Formation of boards by hot-or room temperature-pressing under pressure (curing). 5) Cutting to size (dimensioning).The following sections will describe in detail the different stages of the manufacturing process for BMB as depicted in the flow chart on page 16:Matured bamboo culms are extracted following the locally prescribed silvicultural methods and crosscut into convenient lengths varying from 50 to 250 cms. The nodal portions are retained in species with short internodes, such as Dendrocalamus strictus (30 cms), whereas in species with long internodes such as Ochlandra travancorica and Melocanna baccifera (50 to 100 cms), the nodal portions are removed. The splits of longinternoded species, such as Ochlandra travancorica are of a more even thickness than those of short-internoded species such as Dendrocalamus strictus. Although both species are suitable for mat making, about 40% more resin is required for bonding mats made of D. strictus and other similar short-internoded species.During the course of the IDRC-sponsored BMB research project at IPIRTI, several bamboo species were studied for BMB manufacture. All were found to be suitable. Some of the physical characteristics of these species are given in Table 1. The crosscut bamboo lengths can be split by the following methods:1) With a machete 2) With hand splitting knives or 3) With a splitting machine When using a splitting machine the bamboo pole is fixed longitudinally in front of the set of splitting knives and a mechanical pushing device pushes the bamboo over the knives to produce splits of a uniform size. The number of splits produced depends upon the number of knives present in the splitting knives set. In general the width of the splits varies from 10 mm to 15 mm depending on the species and quality of bamboo. The splits are then allowed to dry in the air or in artificial ventilation to reduce their moisture content to around 30%.It is necessary to remove the nodes to maintain an even thickness of sliver and to facilitate further processing. The inner and outer knots are removed from the splits either manually with a sharp knife or mechanically with a knot removal and width-sizing machine. This machine also sizes the width of the splint and planes the surface.The green epidermal layer of the splints is removed using a sharp knife and can be set aside and used for making other products. It is not suitable for making into slivers. Slivers 0.6 mm thick (±10%) and 12-16mm wide are made manually from splints using a sharp knife or a slivering machine. Keeping the variation in thickness of the slivers to within 10% is very important. Higher variation than this results in increased requirements for resin.Slivers are dried to around 15% moisture content 1 . The dried slivers are manually woven into mats of different sizes and patterns depending on the specific requirements set. The two most common weaving patterns are the herring bone pattern (45 0 ) and the rectangular pattern (90 0 ). The most common sizes of the mats are 250cm x 125cm, 180 cm x 125cm, and 180 cm x 150cm.Further details of bamboo splitting and sliver making are available in the INBAR -IPIRTI TOTEM on the Bamboo Splitting and Slivering Unit.Woven mats can be air-dried further and stored without any treatment for 3-4 weeks. Prophylactic treatments must be applied if they are likely to be stored for a longer period. The simplest and most effective treatment for mats, if they are not likely to be exposed to water, is to spray them with a 1% solution of a mixture of boric acid and borax in a 1:1 ratio. Spraying can be done with a hand sprayer or a knapsack sprayer. Alternatively the mats can be soaked in the solution for about 10 minutes.Treated mats are dried either in the air or in a drier, and stored under cover. Treated mats should not come into contact with the ground and hence it is advisable to store them on wooden pallets of 12 to 18 cm (4 to 6 inches) above ground level. Treated bamboo mats can be stored for 3 to 4 months without deterioration. They must be stored in wellventilated locations with low relative humidity and negligible changes in humidity. The chances of fungal or insect attack are increased if the relative humidity is very high. Mats should be resprayed once every three months and should be checked regularly (at least once per fortnight) for any signs of fungal growth, mould and/or borer attack.Phenol formaldehyde (PF) resin is generally used for manufacturing BMB. The resin is prepared in a resin kettle or batch resin reactor made of either mild steel or stainless steel. The most suitable resin formulation and method of production is given below:Phenol: Pure phenol is a white crystalline solid with a melting point of 43 0 C. It should conform to IS: 538-1968, Specification for phenol (carbolic acid).Formaldehyde: Formaldehyde is a gas usually available as formalin which is a solution of 37% concentration (by weight) in water with methyl alcohol as a stabilizer. It should conform to IS: 3321 -1973, Specification for formaldehyde.Sodium hydroxide: Sodium hydroxide is available in pellets as well as in flake form. It is white in colour, hygroscopic and highly soluble in water.One hundred parts by weight of phenol is charged into a resin kettle followed by 150 to 200 parts by weight of 37% formalin and stirring is commenced. Between five and fifteen parts by weight of sodium hydroxide dissolved in double the quantity of water is then added. Stirring is continued. The chemical reaction starts after the three components have been mixed and takes about 90 minutes to complete. The temperature of the reaction mixture is maintained between 82 0 C -85 0 C. During the course of the reaction, the flow time of the resin is checked periodically using a B-4 cup as described in IS: 3944. The reaction is stopped when the flow time increases to around 15 seconds when the resin is hot. The resin is then cooled to room temperature by circulating cold water in the jacket of the kettle. The cooled resin is discharged from the kettle and stored in airtight containers.The cooled resin should have the following properties for optimum results. Board manufacturingApplication of resin to bamboo mats is one of the most important steps, both from the point of view of quality and economy. Most crucial at this point are a) the amount of resin applied, b) the mode of application, c) the duration. Resin application is done by dipping.Approximately 200 kg of PF resin is poured into the resin applicator, which is sufficient for the production of about 575-600, 3-layered boards. Two kilograms of sodium octaborate tetra hydrate dissolved in 400 kg of water is added to the resin as a preservative. The concentration of sodium octaborate tetra hydrate is one per cent by weight of the liquid PF resin. This boron compound penetrates into the slivers along with the resin, is fixed during hot pressing, and confers resistance to fungus and insect attack on the BMB. About 60 mats are dipped into the resin solution each time and are dipped for five minutes. Resin soaked mats are removed from the resin solution and kept in an inclined position for about 30 minutes to allow excess resin to drain away.The quantity of PF resin required per unit area of BMB depends upon the number of bamboo mat layers in the board. The average quantity of resin required for BMB is in the range 0.33 to 0.35 kg PF liquid of 50% solids/m 2 for a 3-layered board. However it will be necessary to proportionately increase the quantity of resin used if the variation in sliver thickness is beyond the prescribed limits.Resin coated mats are laid one above the other for at least 2 hours after treatment for stabilization. The stabilized mats are dried in either a drying chamber or industrial dryers such as a band dryer, at a temperature of 95 0 ± 5 0 C until the moisture content falls to 10% ± 2%.Dried resin-coated mats are assembled on aluminium metal cauls that are thoroughly coated with a releasing agent, such as silicone -17 compound. The number of mats assembled depends upon the required thickness of the board. The releasing agent used to coat the metal cauls should be reapplied after 15 to 20 hot pressing cycles.Hot pressing melts the resin in the mats and bonds them together tightly. The assembled mats are first loaded on to the hot press and the mats pressed according to the following protocol.Pressure -16 kg/cm 2 Temperature -145 0 C ± 5 0 C Time -6 minutes for 3 mats (with 1 minute extra for every additional mat layer)The hot pressed boards are trimmed to the required size in a DD saw.Bamboo mat boards are tested for conformity as per IS: 13958, 1994, specification for bamboo mat board for general purposes (Indian standard).Bamboo mat board can be manufactured in a plywood factory with very few additional facilities. All that is required is a resin applicator and a drying chamber if a band dryer is not already available.A bamboo mat board-manufacturing unit can be established in the Small Scale Sector and thereby become eligible for all incentives provided by the Government for this sector in India. The estimated capital investment (including land and building) is Rs.153.36 lakhs (USD$ 333, 000) as shown in Appendix I.Recurring costs involved are for 1) raw material, 2) energy, 3) machinery and equipment maintenance, 4) managerial and labour and 5) postproduction activities. These estimates are given in Appendix II.The recurring costs are estimated on the assumption that:• The unit works one shift of 8 hrs per day.• The number of working days in a year is 300.• The unit works to 50% of installed capacity in year 1, 75% in year 2 and 100% from year 3 onwards.Summaries of capital investment, production costs, working capital requirements, break even analysis, sales, profit and return on investment, and a cash flow statement are shown in Appendix III. Appendix IV lists some companies presently producing matboard. Appendix V lists companies producing the machines and materials requires for mat board making and Appendix VI gives national standard for mat board from India.Sl.No. Land 8000 sq.m. (0.8 ha.) @ Rs.2.5 lakh/ha. 2.00 2.Development cost @ Rs.62500/ha. 0.50 3.Approach Road and Internal Road approx. 1000 sq.m. @ Rs.300/sq.m.   "}

main/part_2/0355161754.json

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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"bae15034cfc626fed22ba6bf2d09bec0","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/b14e20b1-f751-4f04-a702-42abf60f573c/retrieve","id":"1573042986"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"fda826ad-320c-4d35-8723-3ae7a90ca06e","content":"Totonicapán (16), Quetzaltenango (186), Huehuetenango (403), Zacapa (124), Chiquimula(279) Temas cuestionario: Características del hogar, unidad productiva, prácticas del cultivo de maíz y frijol, acceso a información y capacitación, acceso información climática, eventos climáticos, asociatividad, capital social, migración y aspiraciones.Retos: Situación política, rechazo COCODES a la entrevista, acceso a comunidades-lluvias-distancia 1008 Encuestas de hogares 21 Municipios 5 Departamentos 65 Comunidades 40% Encuestas en Oriente 60% Encuestas en Occidente www.cgiar.org En Oriente, 53.3% En Occidente, 43.3% Indígena (n=422), 42% No indígena (n=529), 52% No sabe (n=57),Estudio de línea base a nivel de productores: diagnóstico para iniciativa y responder preguntas relevantes ¿Cuál es la influencia de factores de comportamiento (aspiraciones y la propensión a asumir riesgos) de los hogares productores de frijol y maíz en la adopción de prácticas de resiliencia climática? Utilizamos datos de pequeños productores de frijol y maíz en Guatemala y estimamos un conjunto de modelos econométricos (PMV) para analizar las decisiones de adopción. Esperamos proporcionar información valiosa para diseñar mejores intervenciones.•Guatemala es uno de los diez países ambientalmente más vulnerables al cambio climático a nivel mundial, con un alto porcentaje de su población en riesgo climático directo.•Entre 2022 y 2023 se ha enfrentado a diversos eventos como los ciclones tropicales Celia, Julia y Lisa• Estos factores afectan el sector agrícola y la seguridad alimentaria, que es uno de los pilares la de la economía (9.3% del PIB, genera el 27% del total de empleos, 67% del territorio se usa o tiene vocación agrícola, 47% población vive en área rural)• En particular, afecta a pequeños agricultores que producen cultivos como maíz, frijol, arroz y papa; claves para la seguridad alimentaria y la subsistencia de una gran parte de la población, donde el maíz y el frijol representan el 10,3% de la superficie nacional  • Los hogares en promedio tienen 1.4 terrenos. El área total promedio es de 1 mz, siendo significativamente superior en Oriente (1.3 Mz) que en Occidente (0.8 Mz).En general, 89.2% tiene al menos 1 terreno propio.• Los granos básicos son los más importantes en términos de área sembrada y para seguridad alimentaria. Otros cultivos sembrados fueron: papa, café y hortalizas.• Son productores de subsistencia: solo el 38.2% vendió sus excedentes en 2022. Los productores ex sedentarios en promedio tienen el doble de tierra que aquellos que son de subsistencia.  Aspiraciones:Son metas a futuro que motivan a los individuos a esforzarse para alcanzarlas. Si las aspiraciones están demasiado lejos del estado actual, pueden causar frustración. Las personas sienten que los objetivos son inalcanzables y esto puede llevar a una disminución en el esfuerzo y las inversiones. En resumen, el concepto de la U invertida de las aspiraciones sugiere que tanto aspiraciones demasiado bajas como demasiado altas pueden llevar a una menor inversión y esfuerzo (Tabe-Ojong et.al, 2024).Implica la disposición a comprometer recursos en nuevas ideas, prácticas y tecnologías cuyos resultados no están asegurados. Los agricultores que asumen más riesgos tienen más probabilidades de adoptar prácticas de resiliencia climática (Kagongo, 2021).Brecha aspiración =Ingreso mensual actualingreso mensual al que aspiraría = 40% (promedio)El 59% de los agricultores tienen una actitud positiva hacia el riesgoResultado modelo econométrico (MVP) Nota: se controló la influencia de otras variables relevantes como: características del jefe hogar, variables de capital social, características de finca y biofísicas, proxy de riqueza, seguridad alimentaria, exposición a eventos climáticos, etc.• Se observa que las aspiraciones tienen una asociación negativa con la adopción de prácticas relacionadas con Infraestructura para manejo de agua e Infraestructura para conservación de suelos. Y positiva con las prácticas de manejo para conservación de suelos.• La actitud hacia riesgo tiene un efecto positivo y significativo en si los productores adoptan prácticas relacionadas con Infraestructura para manejo de agua, Infraestructura para conservación, y variedades mejoradas, todas ellas asociadas a comprometer recursos económicos.• El comportamiento de la variable de aspiración sugiere un 'estado frustración' (aspiraciones lejos del estado actual) que pueden llevar a una menor inversión y esfuerzo, lo que explicaría el signo negativo de las variables relacionadas con Infraestructura para manejo de agua e Infraestructura para conservación de suelos. Ya que la implementación de estas prácticas requiere capital financiero para ser implementadas; por el contrario, las prácticas de manejo de conservación de suelos son bajas en inversión y son bastante comunes en los agricultores.• Se necesitan aspiraciones para impulsar la adopción, pero si estas son demasiado altas podrían llevar a la noadopción. Así mismo, se evidencia que los agricultores que asumen más riesgos tienen más probabilidades de adoptar prácticas de resiliencia climática, por tanto, es importante tener en cuenta que entre productores más aversos a riesgo es menos probable que adopten estas prácticas, ya que no están dispuestos a gastar sus limitadas reservas de efectivo, ya que requieren certeza en su inversión.• En general, la significancia de las variables de comportamiento sugieren que estos factores son relevantes en la toma de decisiones y, por tanto, influyen en la adopción de prácticas de resiliencia climática, especialmente aquellas prácticas intensivas en capital financiero. Esto nos lleva a pensar que cuando se quiere promover una tecnología no se deberían abordar de la misma forma a todos los agricultores, se deberían pensar en estrategia diferenciadas."}

main/part_2/0359176084.json

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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"c0475143dfa0469f77f4c4a05d61a994","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/a039ce77-c2ef-4f08-a5ad-da9c6e4bfd3e/retrieve","id":"-2133712415"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"a97f2451-2187-4aac-a672-06ada9fff185","content":"Livestock in developing countries suffer a high burden of preventable disease  "}

main/part_2/0378222918.json

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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"29059d052d90f077c1b7ba53fa1bc4d0","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/718ce4f9-258c-4a74-aa7b-a9587ff08cc5/retrieve","id":"-662291242"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"b7ab1d7c-5b4e-4450-9b4d-be58cc889e0a","content":"The cultivation and consumption of sweetpotato can improve the diets and boost incomes of vulnerable families in Mozambique. To encourage more smallholders to grow sweetpotato, the project provided high quality planting material and offered training in growing, harvesting and storage methods. It also offered support in selling and marketing crops as well as training and nutrition and preparing sweetpotato.Indirect household beneficiaries: OFSP planted through indirect farmer-to-farmer diffusionHectares of land under improved OFSP varietiesChildren under 5 benefiting from nutrition programsChildren under 23 months benefiting from nutrition programsPoverty and malnutrition continue to constrain economic and social development in sub-Saharan Africa, particularly in rural areas where people rely on agriculture for their food and livelihoods. The World Food Program estimates that a quarter of the Mozambican population experiences acute food insecurity at times throughout the year, while almost half (44%) of children under the age of five suffer from chronic malnutrition. Working closely with the Agricultural Research Institute of Mozambique (IIAM) and the national agriculture and health extension systems, the project aimed to increase the number of farmers growing OFSP and the area under cultivation. Limited availability of quality planting materials is a major bottleneck constraining farmer adoption of improved sweetpotato varieties-exacerbated by severe drought in northern Mozambique -so ensuring farmer access to planting materials at the start of each rainy season was a project priority. Disease-free planting material of improved varieties was distributed to trained decentralized vine multipliers, who used net tunnels and other proven vine conservation technologies to produce quality planting material and marketed it to farmers.Farmer-led demonstrations spread knowledge of sweetpotato agronomy and vine conservation-to ensure widespread uptake and continued production. Increasing access to improved sweetpotato varieties went hand in hand with nutrition education for caregivers and training for government and NGO field staff on OFSP's nutritional benefits. VISTA also provided training for farmers and traders in best practices for handling, packaging, and transporting fresh sweetpotatoes and leaves. The project also promoted the production and use of OFSP puree, providing technical and management support for local bakeries. As a substitute for 45% of the wheat flour in baked goods, OFSP puree can reduce reliance on imported flour while increasing vitamin A consumption.VISTA increased demand for OFSP and processed products through consumer awareness campaigns and promotion of healthier diets. Based on a 2018 market assessment, a promotional campaign was undertaken at the main markets for each of the top sweetpotato production districts. Market day events included cooking demonstrations of OFSP recipes to build consumer demand and the participation of farmers and traders to facilitate market linkages.A 2018 survey covering a sample of 1,540 households in 15 districts-including 260 visited during the 2015 baseline study -found that 39% of households surveyed in 2015 produced their their own OFSP vines for planting each season, meaning the didn't need planting material from the project. Caregivers in project beneficiary households had a higher knowledge of nutrition, and both children and caregivers were more food secure and consumed more diversified diets with significantly more vitamin A-rich foods (primarily OFSP) than non-project households.To ensure sustainability of OFSP production and dissemination, the project worked closely with three IIAM agronomists on the multiplication of sweetpotato planting material and with one IIAM nutritionist who helped disseminate nutrition knowledge to communities. IIAM staff now lead these processes."}

main/part_2/0394109821.json

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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"1f628ad3ff80a7e25004962e6f16e00d","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://apps.worldagroforestry.org/downloads/Publications/PDFS/WP20013.pdf","id":"1296277480"},"keywords":["Andes","Amazon","Coast","dry forest","exotic species","introduced species","mountain zones","native species","tropical rainforest v"],"sieverID":"8749adfb-aa34-412c-99af-0aa0f7cce9dd","content":"The views expressed in this publication are those of the authors and not necessarily those of World Agroforestry.iii Articles appearing in this publication may be quoted or reproduced without charge, provided the source is acknowledged. All images remain the sole property of their source and may not be used for any purpose without written permission of the source.Cover photos, left to right: Prosopis pallida ('algarrobo'), Bixa orellana (annatto), Sambucus peruviana (Peruvian elder) (Jonathan P. Cornelius / World Agroforestry).Many globally important agroforestry species are native to neotropical countries (Table 1). In addition, in neotropical countries, farmers value and use hundreds of other species of local, national or regional importance (Sotelo andWeber 1997, Shanley andMedina 2005). Peru, in particular, is rich in agroforestry genetic resources, probably largely due to the country's large size 3 , ecological diversity 4 , and a long history of use and domestication of plants (Brack 2003).This document aims to provide a reference list of Peruvian agroforestry species, and to contribute to the establishment of priorities for conservation of agroforestry genetic resources.We now briefly expand on these.A listing of agroforestry species has a number of applications. First, as a land use, agroforestry both overlaps with, and, in a sense, transcends agriculture and forestry.Consideration of species from agricultural or forestry perspectives is likely to lead to neglect of species that do not fall naturally into these categories.Second, a list provides a reference point for agroforestry and landscape restoration projects, which otherwise may fail to take into account the full diversity of options available. Awareness of the full range of options permits effective prioritization, whether for conservation, restoration, research or other purposes, and helps ensure that species of potential interest are not overlooked.Finally, a listing of agroforestry species aids in communicating the full conceptual breadth of agroforestry and the diversity of functions it can play in sustainable land management. Currently, such communication in some cases can be impeded by the persistence of narrow concepts of agroforestry, e.g., as simply a plot-level combination of trees and agricultural crops.In the present document, we have expanded on a precursor publication (Cerrón et al. 2018), which was limited to native species, to include exotic species. This permits consideration of a number of ancient introductions, including some that have been considered native by scientists, practitioners or farmers. It also permitsGlobally, ICRAF maintains a genebank of 162 agroforestry species, including both seed holdings and field plantings 5 . Neotropical species are well-represented in this collection (42 species). However, only two species (Bactris gasipaes and Jatropha curcas) are held in field genebanks, and all but seven of the other species, and >99% of the individual neotropical accessions, are Mesoamerican leguminous species. ICRAF, and particularly ICRAF-Latin America, is therefore interested in broadening its holdings of neotropical species, specifically with respect to endangered agroforestry species and populations of South America.Consequently, in 2017 ICRAF initiated a prioritization process aimed at guiding its future genebank activities in Peru. The present document contributes to this process. It also contributes to the prioritization process of the project FuenteS 6 , which is aimed at enhancing capacity in Peru for establishment of seed stands for restoration and genetic conservation, and seeks to inform activities of other governmental and non-governmental organizations.The present document is partly based on the results documented previously in Cerrón et al. (2018). The following description incorporates the methods used in this precursor document, as well as additional methodological elements employed.In generating the list, a wide definition of agroforestry was adopted, i.e., 'any tree, palm or shrub species that is actively managed by farmers.' This reflects prevailing wide concepts of agroforestry; for example, as land use that combines aspects of agriculture and forestry, including the agricultural use of trees (van Noordwijk et al. 2016).In the case of native species, an initial list was compiled based on reports of onfarm use in published and unpublished sources, including books and articles (Brack   2003; Fernández and Rodríguez 2007; Meza and Cornelius 2006; Reynel and Felipe-5 http://www.worldagroforestry.org/products/grunew/index.php/seeds 6 http://www.worldagroforestry.org/project/agroforestry-seed-sources-restoration-and-genetic-conservation-fuentes Morales 1987;Reynel et al. 2003Reynel et al. , 2006Reynel et al. , 2016;;Whaley et al. 2010a;Reynel, Pennington and Pennington 2016), references located in the bibliographic databases Scopus and Google Scholar, unpublished reports (Cerrón et al. 2017;Robiglio et al. 2018;Valdivia-Díaz andMathez-Stiefel 2015a, 2015b), and unpublished databases derived from previous ICRAF research. This process yielded an initial 'long list'. It was evident that the inclusion of many species merely reflected use, rather than active management, while also probably arbitrarily excluding many other species that are occasionally or regularly used by farmers. To avoid such arbitrariness, the final list excluded species that did not meet at least one of three criteria, as evaluated based on the sources indicated above.The three criteria were as follows:• Use for specific agroecological services, e.g., shade for perennial crops, windbreaks, live fences, livestock fodder • Regularly planted by small-scale farmers• Domesticated species or their wild congeners.The resulting list was published in Cerrón et al. (2018) and presented or circulated at public meetings 7 , and in consultation with experts convened in the Peruvian Amazon (Pucallpa), Andes (Huancayo) and Coast (Tumbes). Based on the inputs received, a specific study of the northern zone (Cerrón et al. 2019), and additional sources such as Levis et al. (2017) and Whaley et al. (2010b), a final list of native species was developed.The species were categorized by main ecological regions of use, based on the three main regions of Coast, Andes and Amazon. The highland Amazon zone, sometimes referred to as the 'tropical Andes' 8 was classified as Amazon; therefore, the species classified under Andes are those of the Pacific basin and the inter-Andean valleys.The use of each species was also categorized. Such a categorization is not straightforward, as 'use' encompasses both end-product and agroecological service concepts, and most species produce more than one good or service. Consequently, our classifications reflect main or dominant use. This was based on the above sources and our own observations and experiences, using the following categories:7 I) Peruvian Symposium on Restoration of Amazonian, Andean and Coastal Ecosystems, Lima; II) Regional Dry Forest Congress, Tumbes.8 Equivalent to 'selva alta' and 'ceja de selva' in Peru.agroecological services, food (fruits, spices, beverages), timber, medicine, multiple purposes (when it is difficult to identify a single dominant use) and 'other'.Finally, commercial species included in the list were identified, using criteria such as the inclusion of the species in either the official list of timber species (Serfor 2016) or its inclusion or that of its derived products in the National Classification of Agricultural Products (Minagri 2016).A different approach was used for exotic species, as most of the sources mentioned above cover only native species. Key exotic species were identified from the results of the IV Agricultural Census (INEI 2012) 9 and the official list of timber species (Serfor 2016). 'Principal species' are defined as those species either listed by Serfor, or recorded by the census as being present in dispersed form in more than 1000 agricultural units or with planted area of >100 ha, in the latter case only in units <50 ha. The National Classification of Agricultural Products (Minagri 2016) was used to confirm the scientific names of the species mentioned in the census, which uses common names.The list of introduced species is not intended to include all exotic species used in Peruvian agroforestry, but the principal ones, according to the explicit criteria mentioned. It should be noted that one or more of the three criteria mentioned in the case of native species are implicit in the criteria used for introduced species.Agroforestry species are, by definition, species useful to rural people. Therefore, in a sense, the concept of 'endangered agroforestry species' might seem contradictory: if a taxon is used and valued, then it may not be clear how or why it can be endangered. It is true that many agroforestry species are non-threatened precisely due to their wide use and propagation. However, at least two factors pose threats to the integrity and continued survival of agroforestry species. First, it is not only the species as such that is of interest and value; indeed, the special concern of the present study is with conservation of genetic resources, with emphasis on the conservation of within-species variation, including that of natural origin as well as landraces and cultivars. Such diversity may be threatened by habitat destruction due to land-use change 10 or fragmentation in parts or all of species' ranges, or, in the case of cultigens (sensu Spencer and Cross 2007 11 ), through displacement of traditional varieties and changes in consumer preferences.Second, unsustainable harvesting may lead to local extinctions. Useful or valuable species are often unsustainably managed; short-term needs may prevail, or in other cases, the interests of the majority may be overridden by those of local elites, e.g., in the case of precious timber species.The assessment of conservation status was based on the updated official list of endangered Peruvian plant species (Minagri 2016), supplemented by dendrological guides (Reynel et al. 2003(Reynel et al. , 2006) ) and other sources cited below. These sources were also supplemented by assessments based on the authors' own observations and knowledge, as well as comments on the previous publication by Cerrón et al. (2018).The conservation status of exotic species was not evaluated, because, by definition, they do not have natural populations in the country. However, some aspects related to their genetic diversity are briefly discussed.In total, 238 native or introduced agroforestry species were recorded, representing 59 botanic families.A total of 185 native species were recorded in 56 botanic families: 33 species in the Coast, 76 in the Andes, and 96 in the Amazon. The most frequent families were the Fabaceae (39 species), the Asteraceae (14 species) and the Solanaceae ( 1210 Much of the native forest of the Pacific watershed located in the high Andean zone below the altitudinal limit for tree growth is now reduced to small relict areas. Also, although much of Peru's vast Amazon rainforest is intact, some areas, such as the San Martin Region, are heavily deforested, while annual deforestation in the Peruvian Amazon is of the order of 100,000 ha. In the coastal dry forest, deforestation is proportionally greater than in the Amazon.11 'A plant whose origin or selection is primarily due to intentional human activity.' species). The native species are listed by botanic family and scientific name in Appendix A (Table A1) 12 . In Table A2, the species are listed by common name.Of the dominant uses, the most common was agroecological services (53 species), followed by multiple uses (50), timber (39) and food (31) (Figure 1). In Figure 2, the number of species by use and region are presented. However, the figures hide the versatility of most species. For example, some medicinal use has been reported for more than half of the species. Fifty-three exotic species were recorded (Table A3): 45 fruit-or nut-producing species, six timber species (eucalypts and pines) and two agro-industrial species (coffee, oil palm). The 45 edible species include 10 species of the Rosaceae (mainly Prunus spp.) and 14 of the Rutaceae, including 13 of the genus Citrus. Species native to all continents, except Antarctica, are represented. However, around 75% originate from North America (mostly Mesoamerica) or Asia (Figure 3). Some of the American exotics were present in Peru before the Spanish invasion and have often been considered native to Peru (e.g., see Brack 2003). The distribution of food and timber species by region is presented in Figure 4.    Forty native species were classified as threatened to some degree: eight in the Coast (Table A4), 17 in the Andes (Table A5) and 19 in the Amazon (Table A6 14 ).13 Totals do not add up to 53 because some species are native to more than one of the UN regions.14 The regional totals add up to more than 40 because some species are threatened in more than one region.The listing includes many well-known species from the three regions: species such as moriche palm (Mauritia flexuosa), mezquite (Prosopis pallida and P. limensis), alder (Alnus acuminata), mahogany (Swietenia macrophylla), Brazil-nut (Bertholettia excelsa), ice-cream bean (Inga edulis), lúcuma (Pouteria lucuma), palo santo (Bursera simaruba), peach palm (Bactris gasipaes), elder (Sambucus peruviana), rubber (Hevea brasiliensis), tara gum (Tara spinosa), cat's claw (Uncaria tomentosa) and others. All the foregoing species, and more than 50 others, are also listed in the official Peruvian list of timber species or in the Peruvian Classification of Agricultural Products, or in both. These species include those most likely to be selected for agroforestry, reforestation or restoration projects. However, it is also apparent that many important agroforestry species in the lists (115 species, i.e., 72% of the total)are not captured in these two official documents. These species include dozens of agroecological service and multiple-use species. This observation is not a criticism of either document, but rather underlines the limitations imposed by their stated objectives: for example, there is no reason why a species used principally as a living fencepost should be included in either list. However, it also underlines the importance of clarifying objectives before selection of species for agroforestry, revegetation or restoration projects.Our species inventory eloquently illustrates the diversity of Peruvian agroforestry practice, and how species use is related to social and environmental contexts. The effect of environment on species used is most obviously seen in the numbers and types of native species listed for Coast, Andes and Amazon regions.The number of species is highest in the Amazon, intermediate in the Andes, and lowest in the Coastal Region. This trend is partly 'supply-driven', as the number of native species of flora is much higher in the Amazon than in the Andes, and higher in the Andes than in the very dry conditions of the coast. The trend is also 'opportunity-driven', as (agro)ecological conditions in the coast, particularly, place stringent limits on the variety of species that can be employed, particularly without irrigation.A priori, one would expect a higher number of agroforestry species in the Amazon than in the Coast or Andes. Although these overall trends in agroforestry species richness follow expectations, the differences in numbers of species in the three regions are smaller than might be expected on grounds of their respective floristic richness.In terms of the reported numbers, the relative evenness of species numbers is due to the similarity in numbers of multiple-use and agroecological service trees in the Amazon and the Andes (and, to a smaller extent, in the Coast), whereas the numbers of food and timber trees in the Amazon is an order of magnitude greater than in Andes or Coast. Possibly, this reflects the number of tree species that can feasibly be incorporated into farming practices or used regularly by farming families.Although individual species might not be mentioned frequently enough to be considered important, as a group they fulfil highly significant functions.In the Amazon, there are hundreds of tree species that might be used in some way by farmers, many of which are intersubstitutable (Sotelo-Montes and Weber 1997).Our methodology has certainly captured a subset of the more common or more commonly used Amazonian species of all types. By contrast, due to lower numbers of species in the Andes and Coast, individual species are more likely to be more universally used and recognized. This implies that although, with our methodology, the numbers of commonly used agroforestry species in Amazon and Andes are relatively similar (in comparison to the respective floristic species richness of the two regions), in the Amazon there is a 'reservoir' of other species that could be used in similar ways.The use in Peruvian agroforestry of many introduced species of importance can be explained by two main factors. First, the large diversity of Peruvian (agro)ecologies, corresponding to niches for exotic species from a wide range of tropical, subtropical and temperate environmental conditions. Second, the obvious utility-for on-farm use and commerce-of all of the species listed (all except eucalypts and pines are domesticates). Many of them are widely distributed in countries throughout the world, and it would be odd if Peru were an exception.It is not uncommon in neotropical countries, including Peru, to hear criticism of the use of exotic species, i.e., considering the wide diversity of native species available.The criticism of the use of some species in some sites or microsites is well-founded, e.g., the almost automatic use, in reforestation projects and similar, of the 'easy option' of the widely available, well-known eucalyptus or pine species. However, many of the exotic species listed, 85% of which are food species, have unique properties and are not substitutable by other species. Rather, their success in meeting the needs of commerce and subsistence should be taken as justification for wider promotion of promising native species that can be similarly successful. Such promotion would be part of a diversification agenda, rather than one necessarily associated with replacement of widely used exotic species.Overall, about 21% of the listed native species are considered to be threatened. The proportions decrease from coast (26%) to Andes (22%) to Amazon (18%), possibly due to differing degrees of habitat loss. Each species listed can be considered to be in danger in at least part of its distribution. Nevertheless, before using the listings as a basis for prioritization of conservation activities, several caveats should be considered.First, it may be that the inclusion of some species in the official Peruvian listings reflects wide awareness or usefulness of particular species. For example, palo santo (Bursera graveolens) is an 'iconic' species of Northern Peru, the illegal logging of which has been reported in the Peruvian mass media 15 . However, recent ecological studies in dry forests in Lambayeque found that B. graveolens was the second most common species in 186 transects 16 . This is not to say that B. graveolens is not at risk, but rather that other, unlisted, less 'visible' species may be equally or more threatened.Second, the case of algorrobo (Prosopis limensis and Prosopis pallida) requires specific mention. Their listing as (critically) endangered probably reflects the current high incidence of the dieback syndrome. Although the existential threat of dieback to populations of algarrobo should be taken seriously, it should be clarified that healthy trees of algarrobo are still abundant in Peruvian coastal regions.Third, the list of endangered species includes few domesticated species. In some cases (e.g., Pouteria spp., Theobroma spp.,) were more information available, other species might have been included in the list.Finally, in all three regions, the lack of information on intraspecific diversity implies that these lists represent minimum estimates of the number of threatened agroforestry species; effectively, there is an implicit assumption that populations are not highly differentiated. This is unlikely to be correct. The consequences of not taking into consideration possible genetic differentiation are likely to be much greater in cases where large parts of the range of a given species or a distinctive 15 https://elcomercio.pe/peru/piura/piura-autoridades-decomisan-15-toneladas-de-palo-santo-de-procedencia-ilegalnoticia/16 Personal communication, Tobias Fremout to Cornelius and Cerrón,13.19.19 habitat type have been lost. The concern over lack of information on genetic diversity also applies to domesticated species. It seems unlikely that the Pampa Hermosa population of peach palm is the only endangered land race of agroforestry species native to Peru. For example, varieties of Theobroma bicolor with very different fruit morphology exist, but we are unaware of any information on their conservation status. A definitive list of agroforestry species whose genetic resources are threatened would require much more information and analysis of both genetic structure and reproductive ecology. Indeed, the lack of information on the status of species, although not in itself indicative of endangerment, can be considered a cause for concern.As indicated previously, the aim of this publication is not to present information on the genetic status of introduced species. However, a study of the genetic base of introduced species would be of great interest, and could contribute both to avoiding genetic problems (whether due to inbreeding or, for example, to failure to respond to changing climate) and to improve productivity. In fruit species, such a study could characterize the extent and distribution of common grafted varieties and their rootstocks, as well as the genetic diversity and characteristics of any locally developed land races. In the case of timber species, particularly Eucalyptus, Corymbia and Pinus species, better information on the provenance of material currently in use would be beneficial.One hundred and eighty-five woody species native to Peru that meet our criteria for definition as agroforestry species were identified. They include fruit, timber, multiplepurpose, agroecological-service providers and medicinal species from the Coastal, Andean and Amazonian regions. It is proposed that managers and planners of projects that promote agroforestry, reforestation or restoration should be aware of farmers' use of this wide range of species and that, in project design and implementation, should consider systematically which of these species will best meet farmer and project goals.We have also listed 53 major introduced agroforestry species. We suggest that these too should be systematically considered by project planners and managers, particularly with regard to their income-generating potential. Nevertheless, practitioners should avoid the easy or default option of using easily available exotic species where native species might be more suitable. Our injunction to consider use of introduced species is not an endorsement of the unsustainable practices with which some species are often associated. Introduced species, as much as native species, can be employed within well-designed agroecological practice.We have provisionally identified 40 species as candidates for genetic conservation interventions. Among them are four critically endangered species, according to the Action 4: Make the listing of Peruvian agroforestry species widely available, in order to promote the use of a range of species that adequately address farmers' needs and opportunities.Action 5: Investigate, synthesize and publish information on cultivation techniques and benefits, including ecological benefits, of Peruvian agroforestry species.Action 6: Ensure that key elements of the national environmental and agricultural agenda (e.g., Programa Nacional de Restauración de Ecosistemas y Tierras Degradadas (PNREST), Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs), Biodiversity Action Plan) are cognizant of the full range of agroforestry species and their benefits, and that these are reflected in corresponding operational plans.Action 7: Clarify and make available information on genetic diversity and provenance of major introduced agroforestry species.Whaley OQ, Orellana García A, Pérez E, Tenorio M, Quinteros F, Mendoza M, Pecho O. 2010b. Plantas y vegetación de Ica Perú -un recurso para su restauración y conservación. Royal Botanic Gardens Kew 93p    "}

main/part_2/0434767482.json

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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"85884e1229ca2de20b7494b1c06d725d","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/cf04d289-130c-4448-be64-72b472caf339/retrieve","id":"51566850"},"keywords":["plant bioactive compounds","anti -nutrients","pulse","Bambara groundnut"],"sieverID":"3567a6b5-40fc-4808-9393-297fb3bc2403","content":"Bioactive compounds in plants, being secondary metabolites are important phyto-chemicals, that form the basis of modern pharmacology and medical treatment because it has natural beneficial compounds such as in nutraceuticals, micronutrients e.t.c. Neglected legumes like Bambara groundnut (Vigna subterranea (L.) Verdc.) can serve as a high nutrient pulse and also as food supplements. However, despite the fact that Bambara groundnut contains these beneficial bioactive compounds, it also has some compounds, which on the other hand do exists as acute poisons and as contaminants in food, thus implying risks of adverse effects in animals and man. However, the ingested dosage of bioactive plant compounds is often a determinant for a decision as to whether the effect will be beneficial or adverse. Here, the work quantified and reported certain plant bioactive compounds and anti -nutrients in Bambara groundnut (Vigna subterranea (L.) Verdc.). The results of some bioactive compounds analysed in this pulse showed that the selected African accession had the highest amount of ascorbic acid of 29.90 mg / 100g in TVSu -1822, while the least obtained, 11.24 mg / 100g was for TVSu -1229. Oxalic acid was highest (0.0049 g/g) in TVSu -1205, and the lowest (0.004 g/g) in TVSu -1824. The amount of quantifiable cyanogenic glycosides (CNP) in form of hydrocyanic acid (HCN) was highest in TVSu -1229 with 0.34 mg / 100g, and the least in accessions TVSu -1824, TVSu -553, TVSu -1727 and TVSu -922 with 0.05 mg / g. Also, the highest amount of trypsin inhibitors of 18.97 mg / g was found in TVSu -174, while the least amount of 0.07 mg / g was found in TVSu -1727.Bambara groundnut is a very important and nutritious legume, especially among the poor of developing countries. This legume is considered a balanced diet food, with a carbohydrate and protein content of approximately 65% and 18% respectively, in addition to other important nutrients and anti -nutrients [1]. This makes it a necessary addition to the diets of people who cannot afford expensive animal protein. Because of its nutrition potential, it has been considered to be a complete food, since it has been observed that its consumption by people can make them to survive, even when depending exclusively on it, [1] for all of their nutritional demands. Bambara groundnut has been considered as a 'poor person's crop or a lifesaver, because during the hungry season, the period that exists when the old crops have been eaten and the new crops have not yet been harvested, it is a crop to really depend on for survival. Despite all of these benefits, it remains much as an under-utilised species, even though it has the potentials to be more than just a subsistence crop. The crop is predominant in sub -Saharan Africa and in some part of Asia. Earlier work on some selected African accessions by [2,3] revealed nutrition potentials in some lines, among them are TVSu -1231, TVSu -1232 and TVSu -553, just to mention a few.Talking about Bambara groundnut consumption, it has been observed that the human body needs these constituents elements and compounds present in its nutrients, which when ingested, digested, absorbed, and circulated through the bloodstream, serves to feed the cells of the body [4,5]. Bioactive compounds are secondary plant metabolite, since they are mostly obtained from the biosynthesis of primary plant metabolite such as protein, carbohydrate, fats. e.t.c. Majority of them in Bambara belong to the class of Plant antioxidants which are composed of a broad variety of different substances like ascorbic acid and tocopherols, polyphenolic compounds, or terpenoids [6,7,8]. They perform several important functions in plants and humans (e.g., carotenoids function as accessory pigments for light harvesting and provide photo-protection and pigmentation in plants). Mono-terpenes and di-terpenes, which are the main components of essential oils, which act as allelopathic agents, attractants in plant-plant or plant-pathogen herbivore interactions or repellants. For humans, carotenoids play an important role in health; for example, carotenoids with pro-vitamin A activity are important for vision; other carotenoids influence the human immune function and gap-junctional communication (GJC) [6]. Additionally, their anti-oxidative capacity is believed to be responsible for the health promoting properties of carotenoids and by extension Bambara groundnut. Three main ways of antioxidant action of carotenoids have been detected until now including quenching of singlet oxygen, hydrogen transfer and electron transfer among others. Some of the anti -nutrients found in Bambara groundnut include some levels of trypsin inhibitor and phenolic compounds, which have been identified in the seed of this pulse [9,10,11]. The trypsin inhibitor is inactivated by autoclaving but was discovered that substantial proportion of the trypsin inhibitor activity remained after heat treatment even though total activity was reduced with the presence of a heat stable (tannin) and heat liable (protein factor). Tannin is located mainly in the seed coat and their concentration is correlated with seed colour as it is in common beans. [12] also found out that the highest level of tannin was present in Bambara groundnut accessions with brown and red seeds; while the lowest tannin level was present in accessions with cream coloured seed, but nearly all the accessions are all having very low level of cyanogenic glycoside in form of hydrocyanic acid (HCN). Twenty (20) accessions of African Bambara groundnut (Vigna sibterranea (L.) Verdc) were selected from an initial list of 300 working collection [13], which were originally assembled for initial phenotypic characterisation and assessment, from the global repository, domiciled at the Genetic Resources Centre (GRC) of the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture, IITA, Ibadan, Nigeria, were used for this study. Each of the Bambara seed accession selected were milled into powder in the laboratory using a grinder.For the analysis of phytic acid, a 2g each of the powdered Bambara groundnut samples were initially weighed into a 250ml conical flask and soaked for 3hrs using 100ml of 2% conc. HCl, after which they were filtered using a watman filter paper [14,15]. Later on, 50ml of the filtrate were now placed in a 250ml beaker and added to it was 107ml of distilled water, so as to improve its proper acidity and then 10ml of 0.3% ammonium thiocyanate, (NH 4 SCN) which serves as an indicator and this was titrated against standard Iron Chloride solution containing 0.00195g Iron / ml until the end-point (brownish-yellow color for 5 min) was reached.For each of the twenty (20) accessions was weighed 1g of the powdered sample into a labeled crucible and agitated in 10ml of distilled water, leaving the residue for 30 minutes at room temperature. These were then centrifuged and 2.5ml of the supernatant were dispersed into a 50ml vaporising flask. Also into another separate 50ml flask, a 2.5ml of standard tannic acid was dispersed, followed with an addition of 1.0ml of folin-dennis reagent and then 2.5ml of saturated sodium bi-carbonate (Na 2 CO 3 ) solution into each flask [16,17]. The mixture were then diluted to 50ml in the flask and incubated for 90 min at room temperature after which the absorbance of each sample was read at 250nm.To each of the sample, 1g was weighed and added to 50 ml of 0.01N NaOH to extract the sample before adjusting the pH to between 8.4-10 0. The samples were them allowed to stay for 3 hours, stirring them at intervals to maintain the sample in suspension. Thereafter, 1ml of the extract was withdrawn into 33mls of distilled water for dilution. From the diluted extract, 2mls was taken and poured in 3 test-tubes each then 2mls of Trypsin solution were added to 2 test-tubes and left the 3rd test-tube. Also 2mls of distilled water was withdrawn into 3 test-tubes, 2mls of Trypsin solution was added to 2 test tubes and left the 3rd test-tube. The samples in the test-tube were allowed to warm for 10 minutes in the water bath followed with the addition of 5mls of BAPA to all the test-tubes [18,19]. They were later vortexed and warm again for 10 minutes followed by 1ml of glacial acetic acid solution to all the test tubes and 2mls of Trypsin solution to all the 3rd test tubes that does not contain Trypsin solution initially. Samples were later filtered and the absorbance read at 410nm using a spectrophotometer.The oxalate content of the powdered Bambara groundnut samples was determined using a titration method. Initially, 2 g of each of the labeled samples (20) were placed in a 250 ml volumetric flask suspended in 190 ml distilled water. Then 10ml 6MHCl solution was added to each of the samples and the suspension was later digested at 100°C for 1h. The samples were then cooled and made up to 250 ml mark of the flask [20]. The suspension samples were then filtered and each of its duplicate portion of 125 ml of the filtrate were later measured into a beaker and four drops of methyl red indicator was added, followed by the addition of concentrated NH4OH solution (drop wise) until the solution changed from pink to yellow colour. Each portion was then heated to 90ºC, later cooled down and filtered to remove the precipitate containing ferrous ion. Each of the filtrate was again heated to 90ºC and 10 ml of 5% CaCl 2 solution was then added to each of the 20 samples with a consistent stirring. After cooling, the samples were then left overnight. This was preceded with the solutions been centrifuged at 2500 rpm for 5 minutes. The supernatant were later decanted and the precipitates completely dissolved in 10 ml of 20% H 2 SO4. The total filtrate resulting from digestion of 2 g of each of the samples were later made up to 200 ml and its aliquots of 125 ml was now heated until near boiling and then titrated against 0.05 M standardized KMnO4 solution to a pink colour which persisted for 30 seconds. The oxalate content of each sample was calculated.The method used was alkaline picrate method of [21].5 g of each of the 20 samples were added 50 mL distilled water in a conical flask and allowed to stand overnight. To 1 ml of the sample filtrate in a corked test tube 4 ml of alkaline picrate was added and incubated in a water bath for 5 min. The absorbance of the samples were taken at 490 mm and that of a blank containing 1 ml distilled water and 4 ml alkaline picrate solution before the preparation of cyanide standard curve but there was no colour change in any of the corked test tube containing the sample A and B which is the indication of absence of cyanide in the sample i.e., colour changed from yellow to reddish brown after incubation for 5 min in a water bath [22].The data were analysed using Statistical Application System (SAS) software, version 9.3. The mean and standard error of means (SEM) of the triplicate analyses of the samples were calculated. The anti-nutrient parameters were separated to determine their level of significance using the tukey's multiple range test at p<0.05.    Legend: Data were analysed in triplicates; Data = Mean ± SEM, n=3. Values with different superscripts along a column are significantly different (p < 0.05). using tukey's groupings on SAS. The results obtained showed that there are important bioactive compounds and anti -nutrients in Bambara groundnut (Vigna subterranea (L.) Verdc.), thus supporting some of the works earlier done by (Bamisaiye et al., 2011). The amount of CNP quantified in the form of hydro-cyanic acid (HCN) in these African accessions of Bambara groundnut (BG) was observed to have a range of 0.05 ± 0.005mg/100g in TVSu -1727 and TVSu -1824 to 0.28 ± 0.028mg/100g in TVSu -1202 and TVSu -1205. However, some of the values obtained for the CNP in these accessions of BG are statistically significantly different from one another, while a few of them are not significantly different using tukey's classification on SAS program. For example, the amount of CNP in TVSu -1202 and TVSu -1205 are not significantly different by tukeys groupings, same with those of TVSu -1218 and TVSu -1229 and TVSu -1231 and TVSu -1232, while those of TVSu -174 and TVSu -1727 are significantly different by tukeys groupings. Also, CNP values for TVSu -553, TVSu -729, TVSu -618, TVSu -887 and TVSu -922 are all not significantly different by tukeys grouping, while those of TVSu -1202, TVSu -1218, TVSu -1727 are very significantly different from one another using tukeys classification, while those of TVSu -924 and TVSu -521 are not. For the Trypsin Inhibitors (T.I), the range of the quantifiable protease is between 8.07 ± 0.005mg/g in TVSu -1727 to the highest amount of TVSu -18.97 ± 0.005mg/g in TVSu -174. However, the T.I obtained for TVSu -1205 and TVSu -1822 are not significantly different from one another, using tukey's classification, while those of the remaining accessions are all significantly different from one another. The amount of Phytic acid in these African accessions of BG ranges from 1.469 ± 0.02mg/g in TVSu -1744 to 3.275 ± 0.02mg/g in TVSu -1229. However, the values obtained for phytic acid in TVSu -1229 and TVSu -1231 are not significantly different from one another, same with those of TVSu -924, TVSu -887, TVSu -618, TVSu -1822, TVSu -1727 and TVSu -1373. Also, accessions TVSu -1202, TVSu -174 and TVSu -553 had significantly similar phytate values, while those of TVSu -1231 and TVSu -1232 are significantly different from one another using tukey's classification on SAS. For the tannic acid results, the amount quantified in these African accessions of BG had a range of 1.073 ± 0.003mg/g in TVSu -1744 to the highest amount of 3.614 ± 0.007mg/g in TVSu -553. This showed that the amount of tannin obtained for TVSu -1215 and that of TVSu -1232 are nonsignificantly different from one another. Same with those of TVSu -1205 and TVSu -1231 on the one side and TVSu -1202 and TVSu -174 on the other; while those of TVSu -1373 and TVSu -1202 are significantly different from one another; same with the pairs of TVSu -1744, TVSu -1822 and TVSu -553 and TVSu -618. Finally, the oxalic acid values obtained for these accessions of African BG are quite interesting. It was observed for the oxalic acid values to be given nondetectable values. The amount of oxalate observed for all the twenty (20) BG quantified was 0.00 ± 0.00g/g, signifying that they are not statistically significantly different from one another using tukey's groupings of classification on SAS program.Bioactive compounds, being secondary metabolites elicits pharmacological, nutritional and toxicological effects in man and animals [6]. It is however important in nutrition to also study the anti -nutrients in plant food as a way of determining the bioavailability or otherwise of important food nutrients. For example, the bioavailability of a higher dosage of phytate will inhibit the absorption of zinc by chelating this and other micro -minerals present in the Gastro Intestinal tract [4]. It was however observed in this work, that apart from trypsin inhibitors, all the other anti -nutrients (CNP, tannin, phytate and oxalate) quantified do not show any potential risks as it concerns the nutrients bio-availability in Bambara groundnut. Infact the amount of oxalic acid quantified and present in Bambara groundnut is negligible and beyond the non -detectable limits. However, the cream colored type of this legume is better recommended for human nutrition and consumption due to a lesser amount of these anti -nutrients. Hence, some of the earlier work by [12,23], can be supported by these findings that this pulse, Bambara groundnut is actually under-utilised, and that more efforts has to be made, to get the much more awareness of its immense nutrition potentials to people, especially of developing countries, so as to enhance its utilisation."}

main/part_2/0458508649.json

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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"37768a3e9031c65cfeda051a2235097c","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/b6156431-7cef-44f0-ac1b-e3e5ef1b4174/retrieve","id":"781562615"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"ed794bad-55b6-4ced-ba00-4d840997eca1","content":"The cornmon bean (Pha4eotuh Vutg~), a highly polymorphic species which is cultivated under a wide range of environmental and cultural conditions, presents an equally wide range of ge~etic variability for response to many of these conditions. A variety's adaptation to a particular growing locatíon is perhaps most fundamentally based 00 the ability of the-plants to produce a harvestable crop within the time limits of that location's growing soason, which i8 often constrained at one or both ends by conditions of cold, heat, drought, or the needs of other crop8. Since the time needed from sowing to the beginning of flowering is the principal determinant of the time needed • for crop maturity, the influence of photoperiod on the timing of flowering has received much attention in beans, as in other erops. Beans express a response to long photoperiods ranging from complete insensitivity -in which photoperiod has no effect on timing or intensity st flowering, to different degrees of quantitative sensitivity -in which flowering is delayed to some extent by long photoperíods. to nearIy qualitativo sensitivity -'in which flowering seems to be indefinitely postponed by long days. A variety's sensitivíty to photoperiod may havo critical impaet on its usefulness in many growing locations -particularly in mid to high latitudes. A variety's relative temperature adaptation vis a vis a location's growing temperatures a1so has great'influen~e on flowering time and timo to maturity, snd may interact strongly ,•lÍth photoperiod response. This survey of bean germplasm focuses on photoperiod under relativeIy high growing temperaturas, under which express ion of photoperiod response is near maximal; the superoptimal influance of high temperatura may be noted in ccrtain materíaIs -particularly climbíng lines of high Andean origin, which are delayed substantíally compared to cooler condítíons, even under short photoperíods. Fíve plants of each material were grown in 1 m of row both under natural condítions snd under a structure of incandescant lamps. Plants of climbing habit materíals were supported individually by string fixed to a bamboo and wire trellis system. 300 W incandescant lamps suspended 3 m aboye the 80íl surface were turned on from 6 to 9 PM and again from 3 to 6 AM each day, producing an effective 18 hr photoperiod, in contrast to the check plot which experienced the normal 12.3 hr day length. Photosynthetic photon flux densíty (PPFD) at the soíl surface produced by the light structure averaged 1.94 + .30 ~ E m 2 S~, or about 100 lux illuminance. PPFD at the nearest edge of the check plot was .06 V E m 2 SI (~3 lux), and produced no measurable effects on the growth or flowering response of the plants located there. Fertilizer (150 kg/ha 26-13-26) and Brassicol (10 kg/ha) were incorporated into the furrows before sowing, and írrígation and pesticide applications were scheduled \" --\" ------.'. , -3as needed.Each pIant was observed 2-3 times per week until flowering had commenced (or until the trial was terminated 100 day after sowing), average days to fIowering were calculated for each line within each treatment, and these means were compared to determine the amount of deIay in flowering caused by the,long day treatment.In the attached listing, all materials have been grouped according to the broad CIAT cIassification of photoperiod responses (TabIé 1). Data on growth habit and seed coat color (also following CIAT conventions) have been included to assist the breeder in seIecting suitable parent material s according to these several criteria in addition to the basic time to flower.Of the 952 lines tested during the two semesters 1982A and 1982B, 101 happened to be duplicates, permitting a testing,of the reliability of the screening procedure. The overall correlation in the degree of delay between one semester and the other was .976. Of the 94 paired comparisons that could be made, 73 materials expressed the same photoperiod reaction cIass in both semesters; in 13 cIasses the reaction differed by one cIass level, and in 8 they differed by 2 or more reaction groups (seven duplications could not be compared due to missing values or strong influence of poor temperature adaptation on short day flowering responses). Among the pairs that differed by one classification group over semesters, the average difference in delay was 5.6 ± 3.4 days, out of a possible 20 days difference. These differences thus seem to be more artifacts of the arbitrary class division superimposed on the moderate variability always found in these studies¡ three of these pairs differed by two days or less. Tbose materials which were mOre highly divergent in the f degree of delay expressed showed good correspondence of time to flower under • -4-, the short daytreatments (differing by 2.5 ± 1.1 days). The difference in response under long days may reflect both the general tendency toward greater variance in flowering time as the mean increases, and the exacerbating effects of root rots, virus and insect injury in the light plot as compared to the check plot. Thus while results from one semester to another are quite consistent, the occasional occurrence of substantial differences indicates that some caution should be exercised in the use of the data for practical objectives in which a narrowly defined photoperiod response i9 required.Materials adapted to cooler temperatures than the Palmira Iocation tended to be quite late in flowering even in the check plot, to be highly sensitive to photoperiod, snd unusually susceptible to virus and insect problems. In the future it may be more profitable to conduct photoperiod screening of such materials at a cooler location (e.g. Popayán).Figure 1 presents the relationship between time to flowering under natural photoperiod and the delay induced by extendíng the daylength to 18 hrs, for the materíals screened in this project. The basic time to flower presenta a fairly normal'curve of frequencies with an unimodsl peak at 35 to 40 daya.On the other hand, three major peaks in photoperiod sensitivity may be noted: relative insensitivity, moderate sensitivity, and a high level of sensitivity.MateríaIs which failed to flower within 100 days produced the sloping line at the cap oE the figure, though their full degree of delay is unknown and probably quite variable. lt is interesting to note that the earl~est flowering material (\"Orgulloso\") is somewhat sensitive to photoperiod,which may modify its precocity in Central American summer plantings, and have significant influence on its yielding ability • While no conclusions can be made,based on this study,of che genetic .control of response to photoperiod, other studies have indicated the involvement of from 1 to 4 major genes, substantial minar gene modification. and interaction with growth habitoThe growing environment (especially mean temperature) has a great deal of influence on the express ion of this character,-5and care should be taken in defining breeding objectives relative to photoperiod and flowering response in besns. The full range of photoperiod sensitivity appear to be available in most classes of beans, and major alterations in photoperiod response seem quite feasible through breeding.  O 20.0 ..  ., .,\"lQ~OTOP~RIOO REACTION (PRX) A T el.l\\ T UNOER 18 VS. 12.35 HQUA.S._--------------------------------PRX=l:lESS THAN 4 OAYS OELAV BY LONG OAYS -----------------------------~-  _-------------------------------  -----------------------------                       --------------------------------  ------------------------------      -----------------------------------PRX=.l: 1:) ro 20 OAf S OELAY I:lY LONG OAYS ------------------------------~- .-----------------------------------PRX=3:10 ro 20 DAYS OELAr 8Y LONG DAYS --------------------------------ID            -----------------------------------PRX\"'<t:.:;O ro 30 OAYS OELAY oY LONG OAYS -- ---------------------------_._-  -----------------------------------PRi(=\",:2:G ro 3') OAYS OELAY I:lY LONG OAYS --_._---------------------------- Zf-..J   PHorOP-::RIOD Ré.AeTION (P R)() AT CIA T UNDER 18 VS. t 2. 35 HO\"RS ------------------------------------PR)(=4=ZO ro 30 DAYS VELAY 5'1' LONG DA.\\'S -----------------------------~--    ..- ----------------------------------PRX=5:3J TO 40 DAY S UcL>\\Y bY LONG OAYS ------------------------------~- -----------------------------------PRX=5:30 fO 40 DAV S DEL/IV I:lY LONG OAY$ -------------------------------_.    --------------------------------  ----------------------------~      ------------------------------------PkX:tj:NO FlOWERING IN 10') LONG OAYS --------------------------------~-  , , , ?"}

main/part_2/0465702772.json

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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"57f5c9ec0b748876d7ea89dfd65ceda5","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://repository.cimmyt.org/server/api/core/bitstreams/b76e9c2a-0ace-4a70-95f5-1d61eafbd5c8/content","id":"95332466"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"2447fd91-2da5-45dd-b5e7-cbcf187c5b8a","content":"Grain weight and grain number are important yield component traits in wheat and identification of underlying genetic loci is helpful for improving yield. Here, we identified eight stable quantitative trait loci (QTL) for yield component traits, including five loci for thousand grain weight (TGW) and three for grain number per spike (GNS) in a recombinant inbred line population derived from cross Yangxiaomai/Zhongyou 9507 across four environments. Since grain size is a major determinant of grain weight, we also mapped QTL for grain length (GL) and grain width (GW). QTGW.caas-2D, QTGW.caas-3B, QTGW.caas-5A and QTGW.caas-7A.2 for TGW co-located with those for grain size. QTGW.caas-2D also had a consistent genetic position with QGNS.caas-2D, suggesting that the pleiotropic locus is a modulator of trade-off effect between TGW and GNS. Sequencing and linkage mapping showed that TaGL3-5A and WAPO-A1 were candidate genes of QTGW.caas-5A and QTGW.caas-7A.2, respectively. We developed Kompetitive allele specific PCR (KASP) markers linked with the stable QTL for yield component traits and validated their genetic effects in a diverse panel of wheat cultivars from the Huang-Huai River Valley region. KASP-based genotyping analysis further revealed that the superior alleles of all stable QTL for TGW but not GNS were subject to positive selection, indicating that yield improvement in the region largely depends on increased TGW. Comparative analyses with previous studies showed that most of the QTL could be detected in different genetic backgrounds, and QTGW.caas-7A.1 is likely a new QTL. These findings provide not only valuable genetic information for yield improvement but also useful tools for marker-assisted selection.Wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) is a staple food for approximatelyone-third of the world population [1]. It is predicted that agricultural production must increase at least 60% to meet the increasing population by 2050 (https://www.fao.org/faostat/en/). Therefore, improved yield is an essential breeding target to ensure food security. Mining genetic loci for yield-related traits will be helpful to support breeding programs aimed at achieving these objectives.Wheat grain yield is determined by three yield component traits, viz. thousand grain weight (TGW), grain number per spike (GNS) and spike number (SN) per unit area. Quite a few genes associated with yield components have been identified by homology-based cloning using comparative genomics [2]. For example, TaGL3-5A, orthologous to rice (Oryza sativa L.) GL3, improves TGW by increasing grain length (GL) [3]. GL3 is known to encode a protein phosphatase kelch (PPKL) family and control grain size by regulating Cyclin-T1-3 [4]. WAPO-A1 isolated by map-based cloning is a casual gene affecting spikelet number per spike [5,6]. WAPO1 controls number of spikelets by regulating the timing of terminal spikelet formation in wheat [6]. GNI-A1 was cloned for grain number per spikelet using a population of recombinant inbred substitution lines [7]. GNI1 encodes a homeodomain leucine zipper class I (HD-Zip I) transcription factor and is identified as responsible for increasing floret fertility in wheat [7]. TB1 regulates inflorescence architecture and development in wheat [8]. GW2 encodes a RING-type E3 ubiquitin ligase and negatively regulates grain size [9,10]. GS5 encodes a serine carboxypeptidase and positively regulates grain size [11,12].With rapid advances in wheat genome sequencing and highthroughput genotyping, a large number of genetic loci for yield component traits have been identified in wheat through linkage mapping and association analysis [13][14][15][16][17][18][19][20]. Among them, many stable genetic loci for yield components were defined using genome-wide meta-analyses, providing genetic targets for gene cloning and molecular marker-assisted breeding [2].The Chinese landrace Yangxiaomai (YXM) and an elite wheat cultivar Zhongyou 9507 (ZY9507) have large differences in preharvest sprouting (PHS). We recently identified QTL for PHS using a recombinant inbred line (RIL) population from the cross YXM/ ZY9507 [21]. YXM and ZY9507 also differ in spike and grain morphology, so the RIL population is suitable to mine genetic loci for yield component traits. The objectives of this study were to (1) identify stable major QTL for TGW and GNS in the RIL population, (2) develop breeding-applicable markers closely linked with the QTL, and (3) validate genetic effects of the QTL in a panel of 166 elite cultivars.A total of 194 RILs derived from the cross YXM/ZY9507 was used for QTL mapping. Field trials were performed at Gaoyi (Hebei province) during the 2018-2019 and 2019-2020 cropping seasons, and Xinxiang (Henan) during 2019-2020 and 2020-2021. The RILs were planted in randomized complete blocks with three replications. One row per block was planted for each genotype. Each row was 1 m long with 30 seeds sown. Twenty randomly selected spikes in each row were harvested and manually threshed. All grains obtained from 20 spikes were used to measure GL, GW and TGW. Grain length (GL), grain width (GW), TGW and GNS were scored using Wanshen SC-G seed detector (Hangzhou Wanshen Detection Technology Co., Ltd., Hangzhou, Zhejiang, China).A panel of 166 wheat cultivars from the Huang-Huai River Valley region, the largest wheat-producing region in China, were used to validate genetic effects of the QTL of interest, and the phenotypic data are available in Li et al. [22].The YXM/ZY9507 RIL population and parents were previously genotyped using 15 K single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) chips. A genetic linkage map constructed includes 1702 bin markers, spanning 2630.9 cM on 21 wheat chromosomes. The average length of linkage groups was 125.3 cM with an average marker interval of 1.6 cM [21]. This genetic map was used to map QTL with the composite interval mapping (CIM) in Windows QTL Cartographer Version 2.5 [23]. Walking steps, control markers and window size were set as 1, 5 and 10 cM, respectively. The logarithm of odds (LOD) was calculated based on 1000 random permutation tests at P < 0.05. Significant QTL were declared when the LOD values were more than 2.5. Genetic maps of QTL were drawn using MapChart v2.3 [24]. Multi-environment QTL analysis also was conducted to confirm the stable QTL using ''met\" function in QTL IciMapping V4.2 (https://isbreeding.caas.cn/rj/qtllcmapping/ 294445.htm).The SNPs within target QTL were used to develop KASP markers using PolyMarker (http://www.polymarker.info/) [25]. KASP genotyping was performed following the protocol in Dong et al. [26]. The genetic effects of QTL were validated by association analyses in a panel of 166 cultivars from the Huang-Huai River Valley wheat region.Gene-specific primers were designed using the software Snap-Gene (https://www.snapgene.com/) and synthesized by Shanghai Sangon Biotech Co., Ltd. (https://www.sangon.com/). All PCR primers used in this study were described in Table S1. PCR was performed in a total volume of 15 lL, including 1.5 lL genomic DNA (100 ng lL À1 ), 7.5 lL 2 Taq Mix, 1 lL forward primer (10 lmol lL À1 ), 1 lL reverse primer (10 lmol lL À1 ) and 4 lL ddH 2 -O. Reaction conditions were 95 °C for 5 min, followed by 37 cycles of 95 °C for 45 s, annealing at 60 °C for 30 s, and 72 °C for 1 min, with a final extension of 72 °C for 5 min. PCR products were sequenced by Shanghai Sangon Biotech Co., Ltd. (https://www.sangon.com/), and the difference in sequences between YXM and ZY9507 was determined.Analysis of variance (ANOVA) was performed using PROC GLM in SAS 9.4 (SAS Institute Inc., Cary, NC, USA), where genotypes, environments, replicates and genotype  environment interactions were considered as random effects. The best linear unbiased prediction (BLUP) of each trait was calculated by combining PROC GLM and PROC MIXED in SAS 9.4. Correlation analyses and the Student's t-tests were conducted by PROC CORR and PROC TTEST, respectively, in SAS 9.4.Broad-sense heritability (H 2 ) was calculated using the formula:/(r g 2 + r ge 2 /e + r e 2 /re), where r g 2 , r ge 2 and r e 2 represent the phenotypic variances due to genotypes, genotype-environment interactions and residual errors, respectively; r is the number of replicates and e is the number of environments [27].Grain length (GL), grain width (GW), thousand grain weight (TGW) and grain number per spike (GNS) in YXM, ZY9507 and the RILs were phenotyped in four environments. Significant differences (P < 0.01) in these traits were detected between YXM and ZY9507 (Table S2). On average, ZY9507 increased GL, GW and TGW by 1.68 mm, 0.72 mm and 25.57 g, respectively, and decreased GNS by 9.63 compared with YXM (Table S2). There were wide phenotypic variations in GL (5.31 to 7.40 mm), GW (2.43 to 3.38 mm), TGW (23.60 to 48.37 g) and GNS (21.00 to 56.00) across the RIL population (Table S2). The phenotypic scores for each trait in each environment were normally distributed, indicating the traits were quantitatively inherited (Fig. S1). The correlation coefficients for each trait among environments were significant (P < 0.05) (Table S3). Significantly positive correlations were detected between grain size (GL and GW) and TGW, with correlation coefficients ranging from 0.51 to 0.92 (P < 0.01) across environments (Table S4). GL, GW, TGW and GNS had high H 2 of 0.94, 0.88, 0.90, and 0.84, respectively, although genotype (G), environment (E) and G  E interaction had significant effects on each trait (Tables S2, S5). These results show that the tested traits are largely controlled by genetic factors in the RIL population.Twenty-four QTL were identified based on the phenotypic scores of the traits across the four environments, including ten for GL on chromosomes 2A, 4A, 5A (2), 5D, 6D (2), 7A (2) and 7D, six for GW on chromosomes 1A, 2A, 2D, 3B, 5A and 7A, five for TGW on chromosomes 2D, 3B, 5A and 7A (2), and three for GNS on chromosomes 2D, 4A and 6B (Fig. 1; Table S6). Among them, twenty-two QTL were detected in two or more environments and the BLUP datasets, and thus were regarded as stable QTL (Table S6). We also conducted multi-environment QTL analysis. Except QGL.caas-6D.2 and QGL.caas-7A.1 for grain length, all the stable QTL could be detected in multi-environmental trials (Table S7).Nine stable QTL for GL were detected, and ZY9507 alleles at all loci conferred positive effects (Table S6). Among them, three QTL, QGL.caas-5D, QGL.caas-5A.2 and QGL.caas-7A.1 were identified in all environments, explaining 11.6%-14.4%, 5.8%-11.1% and 4.6%-10.0% of the respective phenotypic variances. QGL.caas-6D.2 was detected in three environments and BLUP values, accounting for 4.7%-6.4% of the phenotypic variances. The other five QTL, QGL. caas-2A, QGL.caas-5A.1, QGL.caas-6D.1, QGL.caas-7A.2, and QGL. caas-7D were detected in two environments and BLUP values, contributing 3.5%-6.4%, 3.4%-4.8%, 4.7%-4.9%, 3.6%-4.3% and 6.0%-10.9% of the phenotypic variances, respectively.Five stable QTL for GW were identified and the alleles in ZY9507 conferred higher GW (Table S6). QGW.caas-2D and QGW.caas-3B were detected in three environments and BLUP values and contributed 9.8%-11.4% and 3.6%-7.7% of the phenotypic variances, respectively. QGW.caas-1A, QGW.caas-5A and QGW.caas-7A, were detected in two environments and BLUP values, explaining 5.5%-7.6%, 4.8%-10.3% and 6.0%-11.5% of the respective phenotypic variances.Five stable QTL for TGW were identified and the alleles from ZY9507 conferred higher TGW (Table S6). QTGW.caas-2D was detected in all environments, explaining 5.4%-11.4% of the phenotypic variances. QTGW.caas-7A.1 was detected in three environments and BLUP values, accounting for 4.8%-13.8% of the phenotypic variances. Three other QTL, QTGW.caas-3B, QTGW. caas-5A and QTGW.caas-7A.2 were detected in two environments and BLUP values, accounting for 5.2%-7.5%, 7.3%-13.1% and 5.9%-9.5% of the phenotypic variances, respectively. QTGW.caas-2D, QTGW.caas-3B, QTGW.caas-5A and QTGW.caas-7A.2 shared the same genetic positions as QGW.caas-2D, QGW.caas-3B, QGL.caas-5A.1 and QGL.caas-7A.2, respectively. Considering that grain size is a major determinant of grain weight, the four QTL for grain weight can be contributed by the co-located QTL for grain size.Three stable QTL for GNS were mapped on chromosomes 2D, 4A and 6B, respectively, and YXM alleles conferred higher GNS (Table S6). QGNS.caas-2D and QGNS.caas-4A were identified in all four environments and BLUP values, explaining 9.8%-21.5% and 5.3%-12.5% of the phenotypic variances, respectively. QGNS.caas-6B were detected in two environments and BLUP values and accounted for 5.2%-7.3% of the phenotypic variances. Interestingly, QGNS.caas-2D was co-located with QTGW.caas-2D and QGW.caas-2D, suggesting a trade-off between grain number and grain weight or size.To identify candidate genes for the above QTL, we investigated annotated genes in the target regions according to Chinese Spring reference genome. The target intervals of the three QTL clusters contained or were adjacent to yield-related genes previously reported. QTGW.caas-5A and QGL.caas-5A.1 were co-localized between AX-110410060 and AX-108932459 in the interval 574.4-598.0 Mb on chromosome 5A (Table S6). TaGL3-5A, a gene associated with grain size, was previously located at $571.8 Mb on chromosome 5A [3]. We genotyped the YXM/ZY9507 RIL population to investigate the genetic relationship between TaGL3-5A and QTGW.caas-5A using the previously reported KASP marker of TaGL3-5A (Table S1) [3]. Linkage analysis indicated that TaGL3-5A was very close to QTGW.caas-5A (Fig. 1), suggesting that TaGL3-5A was a candidate gene for QTGW.caas-5A and QGL.caas-5A.1.QTGW.caas-7A.2 and QGL.caas-7A.2 were co-localized between AX-110430243 and AX-108797320 in the interval 670.9-683.1 Mb on chromosome 7A (Table S6). WAPO-A1 is located at the $674.1 Mb on this chromosome and acts as an important regulator of spikelet number per spike [5,6]. We detected two SNPs between the parents in the promoter region of WAPO-A1 and converted them into KASP markers (KASP1_WAPO-A1 and KASP2_WAPO-A1) (Table S1). The two KASP markers had the same genotypes in the RIL population and mapped WAPO-A1 in the target region of QTGW.caas-7A.2 and QGL.caas-7A.2 (Fig. 1). These results indicate that WAPO-A1 is likely the causal gene of QTGW. caas-7A.2 and QGL.caas-7A.2.QGW.caas-2D, QTGW.caas-2D and QGNS.caas-2D were colocalized between markers AX-109975392 and AX-109846478 on chromosome 2D, spanning the interval of 475.0-508.1 Mb (Table S6). GNI-D1, at $490.1 Mb on chromosome 2D, is an ortholog of GNI-A1, a regulator of trade-off between grain number and grain weight in tetraploid wheat [28]. We sequenced GNI-D1 but found no polymorphic site in the 2-kb promoter region and exons between YXM and ZY9507 (Table S1). In addition, an effect of GNI1 on grain size was not reported in previous studies [7,28]. Therefore, GNI-D1 was probably not a candidate gene in QTGW.caas-2D.We developed closely linked KASP markers to further validate genetic effects of the stable QTL for yield component traits (Tables S1, S8). Genotyping showed that cultivars carrying the ZY9507 allele at QTGW.caas-2D (co-located with QGNS.caas-2D) increased TGW by 3.8%-8.7%, but decreased GNS by 10.6%-11.7% in the diversity panel of wheat cultivars from the Huang-Huai River Valley region (Fig. 2a, d). The ZY9507 allele was present in 92.7% of panel members, suggesting that it had been subjected to positive selection in wheat breeding. The ZY9507 alleles at QTGW.caas-3B and QTGW.caas-7A.1 also occurred at high frequencies (84.0% and 83.9%, respectively) and conferred higher TGW (Fig. 2b, c). The YXM alleles at QGNS.caas-4A and QGNS.caas-6B conferred higher GNS but were present at lower frequencies (48.5% and 40.9%, respectively) than the contrasting ZY9507 alleles (Fig. 2e, f). Overall, stable QTL, except QGNS.caas-6B, had significant effects on the target traits.Eight stable QTL for TGW (QTGW.caas-2D, QTGW.caas-3B, QTGW. caas-5A, QTGW.caas-7A.1 and QTGW.caas-7A.2) or GNS (QGNS.caas-2D, QGNS.caas-4A and QGNS.caas-6B) were identified in two or more environments and the corresponding BLUP data. All were major QTL accounting for approximately 10% of the phenotypic variances (Table S6). Among them, QTGW.caas-2D, QTGW.caas-3B, QTGW.caas-5A and QTGW.caas-7A.2 had consistent genetic positions with the QTL for grain size. Given that grain size is a major determinant of grain weight, the co-location of the QTL for grain weight and grain size demonstrated their reliability. Likewise, QTGW.caas-2D and QGNS.caas-2D were also co-located and explained up to 11.4% and 21.5% of phenotypic variances, respectively, suggesting that the pleiotropic genetic locus is a major modulator of the trade-off effect between grain number and grain weight. Most importantly, association analyses showed that the majority of QTL had significant effects on the target traits in a diverse panel of elite cultivars. The superior QTL alleles for TGW had undergone positive selection in the Huang-Huai River Valley wheat region where grain weight is considered the most important factor contributing to yield improvement [29]. By contrast, superior alleles of the QTL for GNS had not been subjected to positive selection. Therefore, these QTL for GNS probably have greater application potential in wheat breeding. Combinational analysis showed that the five stable QTL for TGW had significant additive effects, increasing TGW by 28.3% ($9 g) in the RIL population (Table S9; Fig. S2). Likewise, pyramiding the three QTL for GNS also had significant additive effects and increased GNS by 20.8% ($6) (Table S9; Fig. S2). In summary, we mined a few useful QTL for yield improvement and developed breeding-applicable tools for marker-assisted selection in wheat breeding.We identified stable QTL for TGW or GNS and predicted that TaGL3-5A and WAPO-A1 were candidate genes for QTGW.caas-5A and QTGW.caas-7A.2, respectively, based on results from sequencing and genetic mapping (Fig. 1). QTGW.caas-2D and QGNS.caas-2D were co-localized between markers AX-109975392 and AX-109846478 on chromosome 2D, spanning the interval 475.0-508.1 Mb (Table S6). A QTL for TGW was mapped between IWA4789 and IWB53594, spanning the region of 481.6-523.2 Mb and overlapping with the target interval of QTGW.caas-2D and QGNS.caas-2D [30]. QTGW.caas-3B was mapped between AX-109401831 and AX-110467612 in the interval 8.5-38.1 Mb on chromosome 3B (Table S6). A SNP marker IWB40900 was associated with TGW and near to QTGW.caas-3B [15]. QGNS.caas-4A in the interval of 658.9-683.8 Mb is located in a QTL-rich cluster [2]. QGNS.caas-6B was identified in the interval of 675.4-680.9 Mb. IWA1679 associated with GNS is close to QGNS.caas-6B [31]. Overall, the above QTL have consistent locations with those previously reported, suggesting that they can be detected in different genetic backgrounds. These findings further showed that the QTL were stable and valuable genetic loci for wheat yield improvement. QTGW.caas-7A.1 was flanked by the markers AX-109864896 and AX-110976573 within the interval 241.4-270.4 Mb on chromosome 7A (Fig. 1; Table S6). No yield-related gene or QTL was previously identified in the target interval of QTGW.caas-7A.1, indicating that this QTL likely represents a new locus for TGW.  "}

main/part_2/0466622579.json

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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"62ebe698de417abc9fcb5fb3a98112b6","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/2a40ccd4-1cc2-4a95-bad6-556381d089fe/retrieve","id":"620532843"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"da184509-5565-4cb9-8d5f-45e763db64fc","content":"Agricultura Eco-Eficiente para Reducir la Pobreza www.ciat.cgiar.org L a agricultura eco-eficiente utiliza mejor los recursos para lograr aumentos sostenibles de la productividad, reducir la degradación de los recursos naturales y crear oportunidades para incrementar los ingresos y el empleo en zonas rurales.El Sistema Agroforestal Quesungual (SAQ), también conocido como QSMAS (sus siglas en inglés), es un ejemplo de producción eco-eficiente de cultivos en regiones tropicales subhúmedas. El SAQ ha tenido un impacto extraordinario en los medios de vida de agricultores que cultivan maíz, fríjol y sorgo en América Central, y tiene un gran potencial para ser utilizado en otras regiones.El SAQ es un sistema de producción para agricultores de pequeña escala que reúne un grupo de técnicas para el manejo sostenible de la vegetación, el suelo y los recursos hídricos en zonas de ladera con tendencia a sequía.El sistema se desarrolló a comienzos de los años 90, con la estrecha colaboración entre agricultores y técnicos de la FAO y otras instituciones, como una opción a la tradicional y ampliamente difundida agricultura de tala y quema. Esta última contribuye al calentamiento global al actuar como fuente importante de gases de efecto invernadero y al agotar las reservas de carbono, tanto sobre el suelo como en el mismo. También puede conducir a la degradación de tierras si la presión de la población acorta los períodos en barbecho necesarios para la recuperación de los recursos naturales.En investigaciones conducidas en el suroeste de Honduras por el CIAT y sus socios, incluyendo la FAO, se encontró que la aplicación de esos principios generó beneficios significativos en comparación con la práctica de tala y quema: • Mayor resiliencia en la producción de alimentos ante eventos naturales extremos, como sequía o exceso de agua. • Aumentos sostenibles de la productividad para garantizar la seguridad alimentaria a escala doméstica, al mejorar la calidad del suelo y la productividad del agua en los cultivos. • Excedentes de alimentos de primera necesidad (maíz, fríjol y sorgo), posibilitando su venta en mercados locales y regionales para contribuir al bienestar de comunidades agrícolas. • Mayor disponibilidad de leña para consumo doméstico.• Múltiples servicios ecosistémicos al reducir la deforestación, la erosión del suelo y el potencial de calentamiento global por reducción de emisiones de gases de efecto invernadero y mayor fijación y almacenamiento de carbono. • Restauración y conservación de la biodiversidad local y protección de las fuentes de agua.Sistema Agroforestal Quesungual: Una Opción Eco-Eficiente para Agricultores de Escasos Recursos ¿Puede adaptarse el sistema Quesungual a otras regiones? Sí. Este sistema tiene gran potencial para mejorar los medios de vida en zonas rurales vulnerables de los trópicos subhúmedos, incluyendo áreas marginales de ladera.Con base en estudios previos, el SAQ podría ser evaluado y adaptado en diversas regiones, incluyendo América Central (donde ya se practica en Guatemala, Nicaragua y el sur de En comparación con la práctica de tala y quema, el SAQ protege el suelo al reducir marcadamente su erosión (87%, 84% y 67% menos después de 1, 2 y 3 años, respectivamente). México); el Caribe; el norte de América del Sur; África Subsahárica; y el sureste de Asia.¿Cómo puede promoverse la difusión del sistema Quesungual entre agricultores de pequeña escala? La aceptación inicial del SAQ se ha atribuido a la necesidad de métodos alternativos de producción cuando: (1) la agricultura es importante para la subsistencia, (2) existe un nivel leve a moderado de degradación del suelo debido al uso de tala y quema, y (3) la producción depende de las lluvias, que cada vez son más erráticas.La adopción exitosa del SAQ por los agricultores ha sido facilitada por: (1) el acceso a mercados para insumos y venta de excedentes, (2) el mayor conocimiento de los agricultores del conjunto de opciones tecnológicas promovidas, y (3) la acción colectiva de comunidades comprometidas con lograr la soberanía alimentaria mediante el manejo responsable de sus recursos.En el noroeste de Nicaragua, donde el SAQ fue introducido en el 2005, el sistema no sólo fue aceptado por agricultores e instituciones locales, sino también rápidamente difundido por el mecanismo de agricultor a agricultor.El potencial para promover el pago por servicios ecosistémicos generados por el SAQ podría incrementar su atractivo para autoridades locales y nacionales, ante la continua degradación de tierras y la inminencia del cambio climático."}

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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"621585e76336621e96b7eebc5309fc82","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/808a9d26-6081-4ead-a014-c31fc9b53c98/retrieve","id":"989431747"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"6217b8ce-30f6-4633-9e2b-298f7de377ed","content":"Quality seed -how to define and measure?1. Genetic     "}

main/part_2/0485176487.json

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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"27f79afe0ad9321eebf1a10b14ed28c6","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/559ca559-688c-4772-9d54-6a12e1bc81fe/retrieve","id":"-314650427"},"keywords":["Sweetpotato","sensory evaluation","child, pregnant mothers, consumer acceptability"],"sieverID":"41294249-00cc-4dda-80c7-4a049c6ac126","content":"The purpose of this study was to evaluate how two new high â-carotene sweetpotato varieties, Vita and Kabode were assessed against local checks by pregnant women (n=79) and how young children (72) under 2 years of age liked them in Bungoma and Busia districts of Kenya. Mothers gave acceptability scores for how they perceived their children's acceptance. All respondents were selected from health facilities. Attractiveness of flesh color, in Bungoma the scores of the three varieties were very close together, whereas in Busia the local check was scored highest. The acceptance of the root texture of the local check in the two districts was higher than of the two new varieties (local check: 4.00, Kabode: 3.27, Vita: 3.00). The local check was perceived as not fibrous in Bungoma compared to a little fibrous in Busia. In Busia, Kabode was perceived as the least fibrous variety, whereas in Bungoma the local check was the least fibrous and Vita was perceived as less fibrous than Kabode. Comparing the scores of the three varieties per district, in Bungoma the preferred variety in terms of taste/flavor was Kabode, followed by the local check and Vita. In Busia, it was the local check, followed by Vita and then Kabode with the scores of the latter two being close together. Overall all three varieties were acceptable to pregnant women since the average scores were higher than 3 (local check: 4.13, Vita: 3.23, Kabode: 3.52). Between the two new varieties, Kabode was scored on average higher than Vita."}

main/part_2/0504527656.json

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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"2709f5751d2b06df845cbf4f078d1ffc","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/0bdf2e6d-0119-40b8-83bd-b3edd7276eb5/retrieve","id":"-1680135180"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"029418b7-f1b2-4bcc-97eb-4f1974bdd213","content":"-  --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------LISTE DES FIGURES -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------LISTE DES TABLEAUX --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ABBRÉVIATIONS --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------I.CONTEXTE --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  ------------------------2.1. Profilage de producteurs - -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------2.2.Diffusion des conseils agrométéorologiques ----------------------------------------------------------------------------2.3. Mise en place de boite à messagerie ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------2.4. Formation des producteurs sur la méthode d'appel de la BAM --------------------------------------------------III. EVALUATION DES EFFETS DE LA CAMPAGNE ------------------------------------------------------------------------3.1. Objectifs de l'évaluation --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------3.2. Méthodologie ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------3.3. Analyse et interprétation des résultats -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------3.4. Durabilité du service de conseils agro météorologiques ---------------------------  Dans le cadre de la mise en oeuvre du projet AICCRA, l' institut international de recherche sur l'elevage (ILRI) collabore avec l'entreprise Jokalante pour assurer la diffusion des informations climatiques et conseils agricoles en voix et en deux (2) langues locales auprès des producteurs.Ainsi durant la campagne agricole de Juillet a Decembre des conseils agricométéorologiques ont été diffusés auprès des producteurs à l'issue desquels une phase d'évaluation est jugée nécessaire pour recueillir la perception des bénéficiaires sur le service reçu mais aussi analyser les effets de ces services sur leurs activités agricoles. Les résultats de cette évaluation ainsi que les différentes activités de cette campagne font l'objet de ce présent document. Tableau 1 : Résumé des activitésDans le cadre du projet AICCRA, Jokalante a réalisé le profilage de 2 720 producteurs (Tableau La production des conseils agrométéorologiques a été faite à l'aide de la plateforme ISAT On note que le taux d'atteint par alerte varie entre 45 et 84%. Pour rappel, Jokalante fait 04 à 05 relances pour joindre ceux qu'elle n'avait pas pu joindre au premier appel. Toutefois, de nombreux paramètres doivent être pris en compte dans la réception du message au moment de l'envoi : le téléphone de la cible peut être éteint pendant longtemps, la personne peut être en communication ou bien un problème de réseau peut survenir, etc.Pour faciliter le feedback des producteurs par rapport aux informations qu'ils reçoivent et sur le projet de manière générale, une boite à messagerie a été mise en place avec un numéro dédié (338793010 Evaluation des effets de la campagneL'objectif général de cette évaluation est de déterminer les effets des informations climatiques et des conseils agricoles sur les activités culturales des producteurs. De façon spécifique, l'évaluation visait à :• Analyser la perception des bénéficiaires sur le canal de réception des conseils agrométéorologiques.• Ressortir les effets des conseils agrométéorologiques diffusés sur les activités culturales des bénéficiaires.Pour la réalisation de cette évaluation, une approche mixte a été adoptée. Il s'agit de la combinaison d'une analyse quantitative et celle qualitative afin de parvenir à une interprétation nette des données collectées. A cet effet, les actions suivantes ont été menées :• Enquêtes par questionnaire : un questionnaire a été administré à un échantillon déterminé à partir des individus qui ont au moins une fois écouté un message voix.Ainsi, le calcul de l'échantillon a été effectué en appliquant un niveau de confiance de 95% et la marge d'erreur de 5% sur la population mère de 2,720 producteurs ce qui a donné 342 personnes comme taille de l'échantillon. Ensuite, l'échantillonnage stratifié a été adopté avec comme critère de stratification basé sur la zone de résidence des enquêtés.• Entretiens semi-structurés : des entretiens individuels ont été réalisées avec des personnes ressources parmi les bénéficiaires afin d'affiner les données quantitatives collectées par questionnaire. Ainsi, 21 entretiens ont été réalisés via le téléphone avec les différents producteurs leaders du projet. Cette inégalité de représentation des enquêtés selon les communes et le sexe reflète la représentativité dans la base de données initiale.Pour la diffusion des informations agrométéorologiques, Jokalante utilise sa plateforme TIC.En effet, ces informations sont diffusées en voix et en langue locale directement sur les téléphones mobiles des bénéficiaires sous forme d'appel et cela ne nécessite ni du crédit téléphonique, ni de la connexion pour le réceptionniste. Ainsi, lors de l'évaluation finale de cette campagne, la perception des bénéficiaires sur ce canal de réception des messages est recueillie.   La question sur le niveau de partage des informations a été soumise aux producteurs qui recevaient les informations. Ainsi, il a noté que chaque producteur partage chaque information reçue avec en moyenne 13 personnes.Pour mesurer la contribution des informations et conseils diffusés sur le rendement des producteurs, une question de savoir « Pouvez-vous nous rappeler un conseil que vous avez suivi ? » leur a été posée. Ainsi, 230/342 producteurs interrogés nous ont rappelé un conseil.Ensuite, ces répondants à la question précédente ont été soumis à répondre à la question suivante : « Ce conseil a-t-il eu des effets sur votre rendement agricole ? » les résultats de cette question sont présentés dans la Figure 3 qui montre que 96,96% des producteurs ayant appliqué les informations reçus en ont connu des effets positifs sur leurs activités culturales.Ce qui reflète l'importance des messages voix diffusés.  • Réarticuler certains conseils par rapport à la situation sur le terrain."}

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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"b3ed6a8d1e1de90238047a59829b63fb","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/4befceff-4651-41e1-a941-9e47485276d5/retrieve","id":"-1069479688"},"keywords":["establecido pa-!'a el ~ntrQ IlltÚna'ciElAal~Ag-r-","6rltol'll T,opical (f","itl:5:l","111a"],"sieverID":"a5d4672b-cd03-4daf-8e22-9ea1a5cf9789","content":"CONTENIDO .\" . \" l. INTRODUCCION Arachis pinto; ha demostrado poseer ventajas agronómicas para ser consi-dera~ como una leguminosa promisoria para el Programa de Pastos Tropicales en «el CIAT. Durante 1984 fue ascendiqo a categoría IV en el flujo de germoplasma l' / ,j'., \" . , t ' . ' ' . , '\", IÚ( rJ)JT: ~d-C-Las evaluaciones hasta el momento muestran que Arachis pintoi posee las siguientes características; un excelente comportamiento en asociación con cuatro especies de Brachiariajr: muy palatable y sus cualidades nutritivas son muy buenas. Una característica de particular importancia de ~. pinto; es su alto contenido de Ca y K en la materia seca (1.71% y 1.34%), respectivamente)(CIAT 82-83). El propósito de este ensayo es el de determinar los nutrimentos mas importantes en el crecimiento de esta leguminosa en dos suelos diferentes de la altillanura colombiana.  .. Resultados obtenidos en ensayos bajo corte en suelos de textura fina de Carimagua con gramíneas y leguminosas tropicales no muestran respuesta en producción de forrajes a las aplicaciones de microe1ementos (Spain, 1983).Respondió sólamente al P, Mg y a la interacción P, K, Ca, Mg, S (P 0.01) (Cuadro 7). No respondió al nitrógeno asurniendose también para este caso de que exista una cepa nativa de Rhizobium efectiva para fijar nitrógeno atmosférico para la planta.No respondió a ninguno de los microe1ementos (Zn, Cu, B, Mn, Mo) (Cuadro 7).Finalmente, el rendimiento de materia seca grjpote fue mayor en el suelo de Guayabal que el de Carimagua probablemente porque el suelo de Guayabal posee una mejor textura y fertilidad (Tabla 2 y 3)..  ----------------meq/100g ---------- - -----------------------  ---------------------------   "}

main/part_2/0512781679.json

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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"be5770a0aa8912cbf264962942725cd1","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/a0d05f18-17e3-4642-a223-5cd84ade18af/retrieve","id":"1411150262"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"e54ec119-09db-40da-8ebe-c392ac62e242","content":"There is increasing consensus that resistance to antimicrobials important for human healthcare has often been generated in animals and spread to humans and has the potential to cause major harm to human health. Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) also imposes costs on the livestock sector. Most of the studies on antibiotic use and AMR come from developed countries, but developing countries are increasingly concerned about the impacts of AMR. Moreover, in a globalized world, AMR created in one country can easily spread to others.A main finding from our case studies has been the very limited evidence on antibiotic use and antimicrobial-resistant pathogens in livestock and the implications for human and animal health. We can confidently say that most antibiotics in developing countries are administered by untrained personnel, that regulations, even when present, do not translate to practice and that antimicrobial-resistant pathogens are common in livestock and livestock products. This suggests that further evidence is needed to guide interventions to address what is potentially a problem of major significance for global health and the wellbeing of people and their livestock in poor countries.International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) is interested in AMR as a human health externality of intensifying livestock production in developing countries and a constraint to livestock productivity, but we are also concerned that poor farmers should have access to disease control options to safeguard the livestock assets upon which they depend.This research strategy note summarizes some of the work we do in this area and provides some suggestions for strengthening the evidence base.ILRI has been working on different aspects of AMR for a number of years.Most ILRI research in developing countries has been on identifying antimicrobial residues or antimicrobial-resistant pathogens in livestock products or populations. We have conducted studies in camels in northern Kenya and in many informal food markets in Africa and Asia. These often find high levels of multi-drug resistant pathogens in livestock, even those kept in remote and isolated communities with little history of drug use.Other ILRI studies have found drug residues in milk and meat. For example, in Ghana, 36% of milk samples were contaminated with one or more of the antimicrobial drugs screened and in Kenya, 16% of beef samples were contaminated with trypanocides.Research shows that drug use is almost negligible in some communities and high in others, but generally less than in many Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) countries.Work in West Africa found that rational drug-use principles could be applied to farmer use of drugs. Rational drug-use packages were identified for practitioners, community animal health workers and farmers. The farmer package was found to be most acceptable and sustainable and was tested by randomized controlled trials. These showed that information improved farmer knowledge, quality of drug use and health outcomes in animals. However, political sensitivities make it difficult for farmer-information and community animal health worker approaches to go to scale.Studies of AMR in livestock and drug use by farmers do not allow understanding the dynamics or direction of AMR transmission between livestock and humans. Two UK-funded projects based in Kenya and working with a number of UK universities are looking at the molecular epidemiology of pathogens, including AMR genes, among livestock, livestock products, people and the environment.Relatively few estimates of antimicrobial use in livestock currently exist outside OECD countries and those that do can be broken down into (i) national sales data and (ii) case studies in single farms or regions. ILRI contributed to the first global mapping of antimicrobial use in livestock, led by Princeton University and the Center for Disease Dynamics, Economics & Policy, based on our work on mapping livestock distributions and livestock production systems. We are improving estimates of country use, through our close links with veterinary services in developing countries.Based on our work in forecasting demand for animalsource foods and livestock sector responses to that, we are able to predict trends in antimicrobial use in livestock under different scenarios of sector development.We developed an evidence paper for the Department for International Development on the current state of knowledge on agricultural use of antibiotics in developing countries.ILRI has a major research effort on the 'infection and treatment' method for prevention of East Coast fever. East Coast fever is one of the most important diseases in East Africa, responsible for enormous losses of animals each year. Fortunately, the disease can be prevented by injecting cattle with a mild form of the disease and antimicrobials at the same time. As this goes to scale, it would be important to look at the risk of the emergence of tetracycline resistance.There is an assumption that unregulated or indiscriminate use of antibiotics in developing-country livestock systems is contributing to AMR but the evidence how this actually occurs is relatively weak. A first step would be to conduct a comprehensive and systematic review of the use of antimicrobials in developing-country agriculture and the presence of AMR in livestock and livestock products in these regions. We are continually improving our estimates of livestock distributions and production systems, and predictive mapping on livestock intensification, as part of the Gridded Livestock of the World initiative, in collaboration with the Université libre de Bruxelles and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. These provide the foundation for estimating antimicrobial use and trends, globally.Areas of high uncertainty and importance where further field research is needed include:Antimicrobial use and AMR in different livestock systems and in different national contexts.The specific relationships between antimicrobial use in agriculture and human health; understanding the selection pressures and the transmission pathways for AMR genes.• Antibiotic quality and the prevalence of fraudulent and substandard drugs.• Effectiveness, costs and benefits of interventions to reduce drug use in developing-country agriculture and to disrupt transmission cycles for antimicrobialresistant pathogens."}

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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"1bd4f3b8ef7d4b3b08bc24404223aa35","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://repository.cimmyt.org/server/api/core/bitstreams/85638ec3-9baf-4391-a18b-779cee7c4de4/content","id":"-356648932"},"keywords":["Pakistan","wheats","varieties","genetic resources","genetic variation","innovation adoption","food production","plant production","productivity","yields. AGRIS category codes: E14","E16 Dewey decimal classification: 338.16"],"sieverID":"4d5f9a77-6ec9-45ae-aac8-633a17143a9f","content":"CIMMYT is an internationally funded, nonprofit scientific research and training organization. Headquartered in Mexico, the Center works with agricultural research institutions worldwide to improve the productivity and sustainability of maize and wheat systems for poor farmers in developing countries. It is one of 16 similar centers supported by the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR). The CGIAR comprises over 50 partner countries, international and regional organizations, and private foundations. It is co-sponsored by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations, the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (World Bank), the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), and the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP).Table 1.Semidwarf bread wheat varieties grown in the Punjab of Pakistan, 1979-85 Table 2.Average number of different landraces in the pedigrees of varieties grown in the Punjab of Pakistan, by district, 1979-85 Table 3.Average number of different parental combinations in the pedigrees of varieties grown in the Punjab of Pakistan, by district, 1979-85 Table 4.Percentage of area planted to most popular semidwarf wheat varieties in the Punjab of Pakistan, by district, 1979-85 Table 5.Average age of varieties grown in the Punjab of Pakistan, by district, 1979-85 Table 6.Comparison of mean values for conventional input variables used in regression analysis, Punjab of Pakistan, 1979-85 Table 7.Comparison of mean value for genetic resource and diversity variables used in regression analysis, Punjab of Pakistan, 1979-85 Table 8.Effects on yield of conventional production inputs and genetic resource and diversity indicators Table 9.Effects on yield variability of conventional production inputs and genetic resource and diversity indicators Appendix Table 1. Average number of different landraces in the pedigrees of wheat varieties grown in the Punjab of Pakistan, by district, weighted by the proportion of area planted to each variety, 1979-85 This study makes use of data on wheat production in the Punjab of Pakistan from 1979 to 1985 to 1) examine patterns of varietal diversity in farmers' fields both at the r egional and district levels and 2) identify how and in what ways genetic resources have contributed to wheat productivity and yield stability -important considerations to farmers and national authorities where wheat is a staple food crop. Five indicators are used to describe the system of wheat genetic resource use and diversity in farmers' fields. The contribution of farmers' previous selections is expressed as the number of different landraces appearing in the pedigree of a cultivar . The contribution of scientific breeding efforts is expressed as the number of parental combination appearing in a cultivar 's pedigree. The diversity of wheat varieties in a geographical area, as related to productivity, is captured by measures of area concentration (diversity in space) and age of varieties (diversity in time). Finally, the relative dissimilarity of cultivars grown in a geographical area is measured using a distance indicator constructed from genealogical information. Disaggregated analysis at the district level demonstrates how diversity patterns are influenced by the production environment and by possible differences in the availability of suitable varieties.The study finds no indication that modern plant breeding technologies have reduced diversity among the wheats grown in the districts of the Punjab of Pakistan during the study period, although brief. Analysis of the genealogical background of the varieties grown by farmers reveals patterns of greater use of genetic resources and dissimilarity of parentage. For some factors related to genetic resource use and diversity, there are large differences between production environments (specifically, irrigated and rainfed areas) and individual districts, which suggest that efforts to increase genetic diversity in farmers' fields will require policy instruments tailored to the individual circumstances of each production environment. Econometric results suggest that greater genealogical dissimilarity and higher rates of varietal replacement are likely to have positive payoffs relative to aggregate yield stability, while in areas where production constraints inhibit farmers' ability to exploit the yield potential of their varieties, better production management is likely to have greater yield enhancing effects than the varietal attributes related to diversity.The ability to meet the world's growing food demand improved dramatically with the release of modern semidwarf or \"Green Revolution\" wheat varieties in the early 1960s. 1 However, despite the improved yield potential, yield stability, maintenance of disease resistance, and other characteristics possessed by those varieties and subsequent releases, the Green Revolution has provoked criticism and debate. A major issue in this debate is how scientific plant breeding technology has affected the biodiversity of food grains, which is thought to have important implications for global and national food security and producer welfare.The concern for biodiversity in food crops is an extension of the general recognition that much of the earth's natural diversity in flora and fauna is eroding at an alarming rate (Zohrabian 1995). Diversity, broadly considered in the biological sense, refers to the number of different species or the collective dissimilarity of species. Within a single crop species, diversity refers to the genetic variation that results in differing expressions of traits among individuals. This variation, in turn, is the basis of plant breeding and selection programs (National Research Council 1993). Lack of diversity can potentially limit the ability of natural systems, or scientists who work with systems or species, to respond to unknown or evolving pests, pathogens, or environmental conditions. In the case of wheat rusts, for example, widespread cultivation of varieties with a similar genetic basis of resistance increases the risk of pathogen mutation and the spread of disease once the mutation occurs. It is suggested that agricultural production systems may be similarly vulnerable based on the assumption that modern breeding programs utilize a narrow range of genetic material, that different varieties are in fact closely related, and that genetic uniformity in breeding and production is increasing (see, for example, Frankel 1970 andchapters in Cooper, Vellvé, andHobbelink 1992; see also National Research Council 1993). 1 By \"Green Revolution\" in wheat we refer specifically to the development and diffusion of semidwarf wheat varieties in the developing world, which began in South Asia during the 1960s. These semidwarf varieties contain the Rht1 and Rht2 genes, individually or in combination. Rht1 and Rht2 (two of the numerous dwarfing genes that have been found in wheat) confer a positive interaction between a wheat genotype and its environment, by which yield increases prove greater given a favorable combination of soil moisture, soil fertility, and weed control. The genes were initially introduced into Japanese breeders' materials through Daruma, believed to be a Korean landrace (Dalrymple 1986). A cross descended from Daruma, Norin 10, was introduced into a US breeding program at Washington State University in 1949, and the dwarf characteristic from Norin 10 was successfully incorporated into the first Green Revolution wheats by N. Borlaug in Mexico. The semidwarf wheats currently developed by CIMMYT and many national breeding programs in developing countries are descendants of the first Green Revolution wheats, but their pedigrees also contain many distinctive ancestors and landraces from other sources.A frustration in the diversity debate is that measures of genetic diversity within a species frequently differ within and among disciplines. First, measurement difficulties arise from the simple fact that not everything is known about the relationship between DNA sequences, genotypes, environment, and plant expression. Whether a given indicator is appropriate also depends upon the perspective or focus of the research. Furthermore, confusion arises from the use of similar terms to describe very different ideas. In the following sections, we attempt to clearly mark the boundaries of examination and to develop a set of diversity indicators that are both measurable and meaningful for this study of wheat productivity across the Punjab of Pakistan between 1979 and1985.In an attempt to enlighten the debate and provide guidance to those who formulate policy and allocate research funds, we pursue two tracks of inquiry. The first is an examination of the patterns of varietal diversity in wheat as they occur in farmers' fields. Assessment at the farm level, rather than in materials in gene banks or breeders' stocks, allows us to examine several dimensions of diversity simultaneously, including the contribution of breeding programs. This is also the appropriate point of observation given our interest in how farmers' production choices and constraints affect diversity.The second point of inquiry deals with how much and in what ways genetic diversity and genetic resource use enhance the economic value of the wheat crop. The lack of an understanding of the relationships between diversity and resource use and their effect on production outcomes, in the absence of market valuation, raises the possibility of underinvestment from the perspective of producers and society and leaves little to guide policy (Schuh and Tollini 1979). However, other means of valuation are available. One method is to analyze how genetic diversity and the use of genetic resources, among other conventional inputs, contribute to increased agricultural output of a commodity. A second aspect of crop production that has economic importance is aggregate yield stability. 2 Again, it is possible to analyze the contribution of inputs -including genetic resources and their attributes -to yield variability.In both cases, our perspective derives from our interest in how genetic resources and diversity affect farmers' production outcomes. Such a valuation assessment has important implications for funding germplasm resource collection and other investments designed to enhance diversity at the farm level.We selected the Punjab of Pakistan as the region of study because it represents one of the first areas in the developing world where farmers adopted semidwarf wheats. Pakistan is also one of the four largest wheat producers among developing countries, and its per capita wheat consumption ranks among the highest in the developing world (CIMMYT 1995). In the Punjab, one of the two major wheat-producing provinces of Pakistan, wheat, produced during the cool, dry rabi season, is one of two staple food grains. Ninety percent of the province's farmers cultivate about 7 ha or less of wheat on farms of less than 10 ha.Few studies have directly addressed the valuation of particular attributes of germplasm through productivity analysis of varietal improvement. Evenson and Gollin (1990) studied the contribution of genetic resources to Indian rice productivity over 1956-83. The study sought to separate the effects of varietal improvements from other productivity-enhancing inputs and to measure the relative contribution of genetic resources to varietal improvement and indirectly to productivity change. The analysis involved estimation of two production functions, both regressed over a yield index for the period examined. The first regression used area planted to high-yielding varieties (HYVs) as a variable to measure the contribution of varietal change. Regression results were used in a growth accounting over the period 1972-84, which estimated that varietal change in rice contributed more than one-third of realized productivity gains, while public research and extension explained much of the remaining growth. The second regression analysis replaced the HYV variable with sets of genetic resource variables weighted by the proportion of HYV area for each variety actually planted by farmers over 1975-84. The genetic resource variables were defined by conducting a pedigree analysis of the 306 rice varieties released in India. Widawsky (1996) used a Just and Pope (1979) specification of a production function to estimate effects of varietal diversity on rice yield variability among townships in eastern China. He measured varietal diversity using coefficients of parentage constructed from pedigree analysis (explained below) and an area-weighted version of a distance index developed by Solow and Polasky (1994). He concluded that varietal diversity was effective in reducing rice yield variability and only slightly reduced mean yields for the time period under study.In a sense, any study investigating the impact of plant breeding on yield is analyzing the effects of genetic resources on productivity, broadly defined. Recent studies of agricultural research impact, for example, have differentiated among varieties based on their ancestry or the source of the germplasm. Bagnara, Bagnara, and Santaniello (1996) estimate effects of local germplasm and international germplasm on the adaptability, yield, grain quality, and yield stability of Italian durum wheats. Other examples include Byerlee and Traxler (1995), Pardey et al. (forthcoming), Brennan and Fox (1995), Brennan, Singh, and Lewin (1996), and Thomas (1996). The two studies noted above, however, as well as this study, attempt to measure the effects on productivity of particular attributes of genetic resources, such as their diversity.Several previous studies have examined patterns of diversity among wheat varieties grown in the Punjab of Pakistan. Byerlee and Heisey (1990) documented farmers' use of wheat varieties across districts and years from 1978 to 1986, with points of comparison to the Yaqui Valley of Mexico and the Indian Punjab. The rate of varietal replacement is an important indicator of the impact of plant breeding programs through genetic gains in yield or other desirable characteristics, and it serves as a measure of potential exposure to disease epidemics, because newer releases generally carry different genetic bases of resistance.For these data, Khan (1987) r eported that the average longevity of rust resistance among wheat varieties in the Punjab of Pakistan was 6.3 years. 3 Simple cost-benefit analysis based on this estimate suggests that wheat varieties in the Punjab should turn over every five to six years. Brennan and Byerlee (1991) compared the average age of wheat varieties in the Punjab of Pakistan, weighted by their planted area, to that of wheat varieties in several other regions in developed and developing countries. Weighting the ages of varieties by the percentage of planted area they occupy captures, in part, the effects of concentration in the distribution of varieties over space. A higher concentration of wheat area in fewer varieties increases the likelihood that mutations in rust pathogens will survive and break down a given genetic basis of resistance. The weighted average age of wheat varieties in the Punjab of Pakistan was 11.1 years, which was longer than the average of 7.2 years for the all regions investigated and nearly twice the estimated longevity of genetic resistance based on single genes. The authors attributed the relatively slow rate of varietal turnover in the Punjab of Pakistan to a poorly developed seed industry and extension service. Arguing that the socially optimal period for replacing wheat varieties is a function of a number of biological and economic factors, Heisey and Brennan (1991) developed a more complete economic model for analyzing farmers' demand for replacement seed using data from the Punjab of Pakistan. Souza et al. (1994) combined indicators of varietal replacement over time, spatial distribution of varieties by planted area, and genealogical analysis in their study comparing trends in wheat genetic diversity between the Punjab of Pakistan and the Yaqui Valley of Mexico. They used coefficient of parentage analysis based on pedigree data (described below) as an indicator of \"latent diversity\" (defined as \"the underlying genomic variation that is not obvious until challenged by the appropriate biotic or abiotic stress\") (p. 774). These researchers found a small trend towards greater latent diversity among the cultivars grown in the Punjab of Pakistan over 1978 to 1990, compared to large oscillations and generally lower levels of latent diversity in the Yaqui Valley. On the other hand, the rate of varietal replacement in the Yaqui Valley was considerably higher than in the Punjab of Pakistan, higher even than recommended by research services. Souza et al. concluded that wheat improvement programs did not erode genetic diversity in these two areas where Green Revolution wheats had been widely adopted. Further, they argued that farmers' patterns of varietal use have a greater effect than the composition of varieties recommended by research services on the level of genetic diversity observed in farmers' fields. the level of resistance to rust that is socially desirable. They argued that (1) farmers choose to grow wheat cultivars whose yields are high even though they are known to be susceptible to virulent strains of rust and (2) farmers choose to grow high-yielding cultivars whether or not they have the same basis of genetic resistance as those grown by other farmers. When many farmers grow cultivars possessing similar resistance genes, there is a lower level of genetic diversity in farmers' fields than would most effectively protect against the emergence and spread of rust. The authors investigate some of the costs (in terms of yield foregone) associated with pursuing various policies to increase genetic diversity.The Punjab accounts for 68% of the cropped area in Pakistan, most of which is situated on the Indus Plains. Irrigation systems composed of tubewells and canals serve approximately 83% of this area (CIMMYT 1989). There are two production seasons. The summer monsoon (kharif) season runs from approximately June to October, and the winter low-rainfall (rabi) season runs from October to May. Throughout the Punjab, wheat is by far the most important rabi season crop.Important differences emerge, however, when total production area is disaggregated into irrigated and nonirrigated (barani) areas. When delineated by district, the barani areas correspond primarily to those of Rawalpindi Division, which is situated in the higher plains of Northern Punjab and represents nearly 10% of the total Punjab wheat area. Outside Rawalpindi Division, most districts have near complete irrigation coverage, with the exception of Gujrat, Sialkot, Khushab, and Mianwali, in which less than 70% of the cropped area is irrigated.Limited evidence of the contrast between irrigated and barani areas is sufficient to suggest that there are structural differences in the two production environments. Consequently, treating the entire Punjab as a homogenous production environment would lead to erroneous coefficient estimation. Differences between irrigated and barani areas emerge in farming system interactions and the use of improved high-yielding wheat varieties. In the irrigated areas cropping intensity is high, with double cropping of cash and food crops. Rice, cotton, sugarcane, or maize are typically grown during the summer, followed by wheat during the cooler rabi season. The double cropping system may cause management difficulties because of the short turnaround time between crops. Often the wheat crop is planted later than the optimal time due to later maturing of the rotation crop or other harvesting constraints, particularly labor shortages during peak demand. Also, in an effort to sow the wheat crop in a timely manner, land preparation commonly suffers. Generally, however, farmers in the irrigated areas are self-sufficient in food production and earn their cash income primarily from the summer crop (Renkow 1991). The dominant farming system in the barani areas is a crop-livestock mix. Wheat or maize is the primary food crop and both crops are also important sources of livestock fodder. In fact, the value of crop by-products and intercrops in relation to grain is around 40% in barani areas, compared to 10-20% in irrigated areas (Byerlee and Husain 1992). In contrast to the irrigated areas, the barani areas are generally not self-sufficient in food production, and people earn most of their income from off-farm work and, to a lesser extent, livestock production (Renkow 1991).Beginning around 1967, HYVs were adopted in the irrigated areas and rapidly replaced the local (desi ) varieties, including both scientifically bred tall varieties and local landrace types such as Rodi. In most irrigated districts adoption exceeded 90% by the period covered in this study. Adoption of HYVs in the barani areas began about ten years after HYVs were first adopted in irrigated districts. By 1985/86, the final year considered in this study, adoption of HYVs generally did not exceed 50% of the wheat area in the drier barani environments. The persistence of improved tall varieties (predominantly C-591, released in 1934) and landrace varieties may be attributed partly to farmers' need for livestock fodder, which the newer short-statured varieties provided in lower quantities. Nor did the new short varieties give the dramatic yield increase experienced in the irrigated areas. In many cases, the milling and baking qualities of the older varieties were preferred to those of the HYVs. Serious pathogen infestations in the older varieties and the release of HYVs that performed better in rainfed environments have accelerated adoption in barani areas during and after the period analyzed here. By 1989/90, 70-80% of the barani wheat area was planted to HYVs (Government of Pakistan 1991; Hobbs, Saeed, and Farooq 1992;Byerlee and Moya 1993).As mentioned in the introduction, the study of genetic resource use and diversity has many dimensions, and the specific question at hand, as well as the available data, guide the choice of indicators employed to describe diversity or resource use. Here we are interested in the diversity embodied in the wheat varieties farmers actually grow in the Punjab of Pakistan.We have already reviewed some of the previous findings on varietal diversity in the Punjab of Pakistan; now we will discuss the conceptual basis for the genetic resource and diversity variables used in the regression analysis described in this paper. Some descriptive statistics for these variables are provided and interpreted.\"Genetic resources\" are the germplasm or genetic material of all organisms containing useful characteristics of actual or potential value (Skovmand, Varughese, and Hettel 1992).For wheat, the genetic resources most often used in conventional breeding programs can be conveniently divided into two categories -landraces and varieties -which are distinguished by their crossing history. A third grouping includes 27 wild and weedy relatives of wheat, which are not grown commercially and are used very infrequently in plant breeding (Skovmand et al. 1992). Two measures of the use of these genetic resources are described below.A landrace is a cultivated variety developed in traditional agriculture over many years of farmer selection. Individual wheat populations are usually genetically heterogeneous and location specific in their adaptation (National Research Council 1993). Although genetically heterogeneous, a wheat landrace consists of homozygous lines. Landraces are commonly thought of as sources of novel genetic diversity and resistance to pests and pathogens because they have undergone a centuries-long selection process, usually within specific production environments.Only rarely do modern plant breeders cross landraces directly with advanced breeding lines, primarily because of the effort needed to breed out concurrent undesirable characteristics and also because sources of resistance to evolving pathogenic threats are often already present in existing highly selected, adapted breeding lines (Duvick 1984). As expressed by Harlan, plant breeders \"want the genes and not the linkages\" (Harlan 1992:155).An inspection of the pedigrees of modern wheats reveals that it is less common for new landrace ancestors to be introduced as direct parents of new wheat varieties than to be incorporated into the genetic background of new wheat varieties when breeders cross advanced lines with distinct genealogies. However, wheat breeders do not generally know the genealogies of new materials they borrow or obtain from other nations beyond the first or second generation. Typically, the new materials brought into a wheat breeder's program are advanced lines with long pedigrees that contain numerous landraces. Many of these advanced lines have pedigrees similar to the breeders' older materials. Some have fairly distinct pedigrees. Only a few new materials are landraces that have never before been used in the genetic background of any of the breeders' materials. 4A recent survey of wheat breeders in developed and developing countries found that landraces and wild relatives comprised only 7.2% of the parent material used in crossing, while advanced materials were used in 78% of all crosses (parental combinations) (Rejesus, van Ginkel, and Smale 1996). Despite this fact, analysis of the pedigrees of 800 wheat releases in developing countries over the past 30 years shows an increasing number of different landraces in the genetic background of materials.In this study, we use the number of landraces in the genetic background of semidwarf wheats to represent anonymous farmers' contribution of germplasm resources. We measure the number of different landraces by recording each landrace ancestor only the first time it appears in its pedigree. To develop a variable that can be used with district-level data, it is also possible to compute the average number of different landraces among the pedigrees of the varieties grown in each district, in each year. Similarly, we can weight this average by the proportion of planted area for each variety in that district and year.Number of different parental combinations in the pedigree of a variety. Wheat breeders systematically assemble and reassemble gene combinations with the objective of producing economically novel and environmentally viable varieties with characteristics demanded by producers and consumers. Because plant breeding is a continuous process, and because the potential remains to exploit different genetic combinations in the future, this resource continues to evolve and expand. Crossing produces genetically unique offspring carrying different combinations of characteristics from each parent. Successive generations of the offspring are then grown, selected for particular desired traits, and then either released to the public, discarded, and/or retained in breeders' lines.In this study, we use the number of different parental combinations (crosses) in the pedigree of the wheat variety to represent anonymous scientists' contribution to the germplasm resource base. The number of different parental combinations is calculated by counting the parent combination only the first time it appears in the pedigree of a wheat variety. The number of different parental combinations appearing in a variety's pedigree can again be expressed as the simple or weighted average for varieties grown in a production environment.According to the International Plant Genetic Resources Institute (IPGRI), the \"diversity\" in the genetic base of a population of crop plants is related to the number of possible responses to selection pressures and is likely to be related to its potential value in production (IPGRI 1991). In applied genetics, genetic diversity is a complex statistical concept referring to the variance at individual gene loci, among several loci, between individuals within populations and between populations (Brown et al. 1990). The relationship between precise quantitative measures and what can be casually observed in farmers' fields, and between these measures and what could be potentially observed, is indeed complex.An important limitation of most measures of genetic diversity is the inability of any single measure to capture either the complex interaction among genes or the interaction between the genes and the environmental factors affecting plant performance. We can construct diversity indices using molecular, morphological, and genealogical data (Dudley 1994), but the empirical relationship among them or between any such diversity index and the expression of particular traits of interest is often weak.Because of our focus in this study on the characteristics that farmers observe and their choice among cultivars, our use of the term genetic diversity refers more to broad indicators of varietal diversity in farmers' fields than to diversity as measured at the molecular level or in the theoretical literature of population genetics. Our particular concern here is the relationship of types of genetic resources and their attributes to productivity and yield stability.Spatial diversity. Spatial diversity refers to the relative distribution or concentration of unique varieties, plant characteristics, or even particular gene combinations over space. Growing a number of different varieties rather than a single variety is a strategy that individual farmers and nations can use to limit their exposure to crop diseases and some environmental risks (Heisey 1990). A greater number of varieties planted over smaller areas will presumably reduce potential losses and ease recovery, with the caveat that the varieties possess different sources of resistance to pathogens and environmental stresses (Duvick 1984).Spatial diversity of wheat varieties has been assessed using several concentration measures (Duvick 1984;Byerlee and Heisey 1990;Smale 1996), although only two are employed in this paper. The first is the proportion of area devoted to the single most popular variety. The second, the Herfindahl index, is borrowed from the economic literature on industrial organization. Here, the Herfindahl index is the sum of squared shares of area planted to each unique variety, which is essentially the weighted average of the proportionate area of each variety, with the weights being the shares themselves 5 (Pardey et al., forthcoming). A Herfindahl value of 1 indicates that all area is planted to a single variety, whereas a value of 0 indicates that a large number of varieties are each planted on a very small area. The index weights those varieties covering greater area more highly than those under fewer hectares.Temporal diversity. Temporal diversity refers to the rate of change or turnover of varieties. Duvick (1984) has described it as \"genetic diversity in time\" (1984). The replacement of varieties reduces the potential exposure to disease epidemics resulting from the breakdown of disease resistance in older varieties. Varietal turnover is important for modern agriculture and in some ways substitutes for spatial diversity (Apple 1977;Plucknett and Smith 1986).The economically optimal rate of varietal turnover in a given area is jointly determined by a number of factors, including the rate of mutation of disease organisms, the structure of disease resistance of a variety, and the production environment (Heisey and Brennan 1991). Brennan and Byerlee (1991) have developed and applied several indicators of varietal turnover in farmers' fields. In addition to observing changes in the spatial diversity indicators discussed above, we use the simple and weighted average age of varieties appearing in farmers' fields as indicators of varietal turnover.Genealogical diversity and distance. Analysis of ancestry of a set of wheat varieties has been used to estimate total genomic (excluding cytoplasmic genes) diversity (Cox, Murphy, and Rodgers 1986). The coefficient of parentage (COP) is a common measure that employs detailed pedigree information to describe the pairwise degree of genetic similarity among a group of varieties. This indicator measures the probability that two varieties are identical by descent for a character (observable or unobservable) that varies genetically, based on Mendelian rules of inheritance. Souza et al. (1994) have described the COP as expressing \"latent\" genetic diversity -the genetic variation that is not manifested until the plant is subjected to stress from biotic or abiotic agents.The COP is a theoretical estimate of the genetic relationship between two varieties based on an analysis of their pedigrees. It estimates the probability that a random allele taken from a random locus in a variety X is identical, by descent, to a random allele taken from the same locus in variety Y. Values range from 0 to 1, with higher values indicating greater relatedness. The concept of COP was originally developed by Wright (1922) and Malecot (1948) and applied to maize. St. Martin (1982) adapted the COP analysis to inbred crops. He calculated coefficients of parentage using the algebraic method of Kempthorne (1969) and included the following assumptions: each cultivar is completely inbred (homozygous), varieties without common parentage are unrelated, parents contribute equally to the offspring despite inbreeding and selection, and the relationship between a cultivar and itself is 1. To account for the effects of recurrent selection from a parental combination, Cox, Murphy, and Rodgers (1986) proposed that (1) the COP between a parental combination and a reselection from it be 0.75 and (2) the COP between two selections from the same parental combination be 0.56.The coefficient of diversity (COD), calculated as 1-COP, measures the dissimilarity of parentage among varieties. For a set of wheat varieties, such as the set grown in district x in year t, the matrix of pairwise coefficients of diversity can be summarized in a simple average coefficient of diversity. By pre-and post-multiplying the matrix by a vector of areas planted to each cultivar, a weighted coefficient of diversity that reflects the spatial distribution of cultivars can be calculated. In a sense, the unweighted average COD reflects the degree of diversity of varieties at the time of their release by research services. The difference between the average and weighted coefficients of diversity can be understood as the effect of factors related to farmer choice and seed systems on the diffusion of the varieties that have been made available.In our analysis, we have summarized pairwise coefficients as an index of genealogical distance, following the proposal of Weitzman (1992Weitzman ( , 1993)). Weitzman has shown that, given that pairwise distances are ultrametric, the genetic distance among all members of a set can be calculated as the total branch length of a dendrogram constructed from the pairwise distances. The pairwise distances can be measured by molecular, morphological, genealogical, or other methods. After verifying that the matrix of pairwise coefficients of diversity satisfies ultrametric properties, Ward's fusion strategy was used as the clustering method to generate a dendrogram from all pairwise coefficients or genealogical \"distances\" (see del Toro 1996). The sum of branch lengths was then calculated from the dendrogram. The analysis was conducted for each variety grown in each district of Punjab in each year.Genetic resource use. During the study period , 18 varieties of semidwarf bread wheat were cultivated among the districts of Punjab. This number excludes desi varieties (farmers' traditional varieties, improved only through farmer selection) and farmers' tallstatured varieties that are older releases of wheat breeding programs. Figure 1 shows that for the province of Punjab as a whole, the area planted to desi and other tall varieties declined from slightly above 20% in 1979/80 to about half that amount in 1985/86. The area planted to tall varieties remained relatively high in the dry barani areas, but it declined fairly sharply in both the wet and dry barani areas over the brief period of study.The genetic resources embodied in the pedigrees of semidwarf wheats grown in the Punjab also increased over the period of study, both in terms of the average number of different landraces per pedigree and the average number of different parental combinations per pedigree (Table 1). The number of different landraces is positively correlated with the number of different parental combinations in the pedigree, demonstrating that wheat breeders are using materials with new ancestors in their pedigrees.The average number of landraces and parental combinations in the pedigrees of wheat varieties grown in farmers' fields increased in most districts of the Punjab and for the province as a whole from 1979 to 1985 (Tables 2 and 3). The magnitude of the increase varies  by district, however, and is probably related to the combination of the number of varieties grown and their age. When weighted by area sown, the district averages also show the effect of the popularity of certain varieties. At one extreme, in the barani districts of the Rawalpindi Division, the average and weighted average values are similar or identical, which reflects the fact that the area sown to a single improved variety (Lyallpur 73) remained large even after the adoption of subsequent varieties (Appendix Tables 1 and 2).Figure 2 shows the percentage distribution of area for all of the province of Punjab by variety and groups of varieties. Quite clearly the concentration of the most popular variety (Yecora) declined for all Punjab. From 1979 to 1984 the percentage of wheat area it occupied dropped from 56 to 12. At the end of the period, WL-711 became dominant.That the dominant variety in the final period accounted for only 18% of the area indicates the presence of an increasing number of varieties, each covering a relatively small area, and suggests that the spatial diversity of varieties increased during the study period. Since the adoption and disadoption of varieties follow cyclical patterns, however, this finding depends on the time period.  The spatial distribution of semidwarf wheats is shown in Table 4 as the percent area planted to the single most popular variety. When spatial distribution of varieties is measured at the level of the district rather than for the province as a whole, there is also a more volatile pattern in the percent of wheat area occupied by the dominant variety. The rainfed areas of Rawalpindi Division show an increasingly large concentration of area planted to Lyallpur 73 as it displaced landrace and other tall varieties. This adoption pattern seems to suggest a relative lack of varietal development geared to the drier rainfed production environments.Other districts, such as Bahawalnager and those of Multan Division, are characterized by a rapid decline in the dominant variety, Yecora, and its replacement by WL-711 at even higher concentrations by the period's end. The cycle of varietal replacement demonstrated here may also be related to greater disease pressure in favorable production environments where varieties that become susceptible are replaced by resistant varieties. 6 Temporal diversity. As explained above, the average age of the varieties grown by farmers is an expression of the rate of varietal replacement. A high average age among the varieties grown by farmers indicates that they retain the same varieties for many years. While the simple average reflects the turnover of varieties released by the research system, the weighted average age adjusts for the effects of the distribution of varieties by area. For example, when the area-weighted average age among varieties grown in the province of Punjab exceeds the unweighted average age, we can conclude that the distribution of area favored the older varieties (see Table 5, Appendix Table 4).Among districts temporal diversity exhibits a pattern similar to that observed for spatial diversity. In districts that produce more wheat, the weighted average age is much lower than the average, which may reflect the need to replace varieties with obsolete sources of genetic resistance to rust diseases. Where disease pressure is less severe the rate of turnover appears to be slower. As is the case with the other indicators of diversity in farmers' fields, while the average age of varieties for the province as a whole suggests that farmers have responded slowly to disease pressure on the wheat crop, district-level figures indicate that turnover can be near to and occasionally greater than recommended rates. Genealogical distance. Changes in average and weighted average \"latent diversity,\" as calculated from the matrix of pairwise coefficients of diversity among the varieties cultivated in each year in the Punjab of Pakistan, are depicted graphically in Figure 3. Average diversity for the province appears to have increased slightly during the study period and remained fairly stable around the value of 0.76. 7 The average values are sensitive to the number of varieties. Since an additional variety can only increase diversity, the long-term persistence of some varieties, even as new varieties are added, contributes to high average diversity (Souza et al. 1994). The patterns of varietal concentration shown previously clearly have an impact on the level of latent diversity in farmers' fields, as demonstrated by the weighted coefficient.Weighted diversity was nearly one-half of its potential in 1980/81 when the variety Yecora accounted for 56% of the area planted to wheat. Subsequent greater spatial diversity, as shown by the falling Herfindahl index values, has resulted in overall greater system diversity.The difference between the area-weighted and unweighted average coefficients of diversity varies considerably among districts, reflecting differences in farmer's objectives and in the availability and suitability of varieties to production environments. Among the barani districts of Rawalpindi Division, where relatively few varieties are grown, the area-weighted coefficient of diversity is typically 50% lower than in the irrigated districts of the province. The interaction of spatial and temporal influences on latent diversity in other production environments is more complicated. Estimates of genealogical distance for each district and the province also show that values are heavily influenced by the numbers and types of varieties grown in a particular region, with high variability among districts (Appendix Table 5).The evidence gathered here demonstrates a clear trend towards greater genetic resource use embodied in the wheat varieties grown in the Punjab of Pakistan during 1979-85. Similarly, the indicators of spatial and genealogical diversity also show movement towards greater diversity. The rate of varietal turnover, or temporal diversity, however, seems to be declining, partly because of the long-term persistence of varieties grown by farmers. The persistence of some popular varieties even as newer varieties are adopted has the effect of increasing the average coefficient of diversity (\"latent diversity\") as well as genealogical distance.A decreasing concentration of area among popular varieties also has a positive effect on the diversity found in farmers' fieldsas expressed through the weighted average coefficient of diversity. 7 As a benchmark, recall from above that 0.56 is the COP value assumed by Cox, Murphy, and Rodgers (1986) and in this analysis for two selections from the same cross. The COP associated with a COD of 0.76 is only 0.24. The particular portfolio of varieties grown in an area is influenced by the intensity of plant breeding effort for that location, seed multiplication and distribution systems, farmers' perceptions of the benefit of diversifying their holdings or replacing varieties, the system of wheat production, and public agricultural policy. Yet widely different patterns of diversity, which are likely to be highly related to the production environment, are evident from our examination of district-level data. An inspection of these data reveals considerable variability and interactions among diversity indicators, which are not so apparent when the analysis is conducted at the level of the province as a whole. This finding suggests that efforts to increase diversity at the farm level may require sets of policy instruments specially tailored to each environment, which may be relatively costly.Methodology Estimating yield effects. Improvements in the quality of inputs may result in greater crop production. When the crop output has a market value and a supply response to changes in the quantities of inputs used is observable, it is possible to estimate, using statistical methods, the value of the contribution of both inputs that are traded on markets and those that are not -as well as certain attributes of inputs or input quality. Known as the productivity method, this technique has been widely used to assess the returns to scientific research and technology in agriculture (see Evenson, Waggoner, and Ruttan, 1979, for a partial list organized by commodity). This approach is also appropriate for valuing the use of germplasm resources in varieties released by plant breeding programs (Evenson and Gollin 1991).Measurement of the contribution of an improved input is complicated by the simultaneous use of other inputs, and estimation of a production function through regression analysis is a commonly used method for assigning contributions of different sources to output changes while holding the effects of other inputs constant (Schuh and Tollini 1979). Using a production function affords an examination of returns from marginal, or incremental, changes rather than average returns. The Cobb-Douglas functional form is a widely used functional form in partial productivity studies (e.g., Nagy 1984;Peterson 1995), in part because the physical relationship it depicts can be readily interpreted with conventional theory. This function assumes a constant substitution elasticity among inputs equal to one. The general equation of the Cobb-Douglas production function is:Estimating coefficients is simplified by converting the equation to a linear form and taking its natural logarithm. In logarithmic form, the coefficient of each independent variable X k (b k ) is interpreted as that variable's production elasticity -which measures the change in output due to an incremental change in that k-th input. The estimated coefficients may be used to calculate the marginal products of inputs, given a level of input use -such as the mean.The contribution of genetic diversity and germplasm resource use as distinct from other inputs to wheat yield has been estimated using the following production equation in logarithmic form:(2)where YLD ht = output (yield/ha) of the h-th observation in period t, X hit = the i-th conventional input, including education and weather effects, of the h-th observation in period t, and Z hjt = the j-th genetic resource or diversity input of the h-th observation in period t.A possible criticism of including the set of genetic resource and diversity variables directly in any production function analysis is that they are not generally thought of as production inputs over which the farmer makes explicit decisions. When a farmer chooses to plant a wheat variety or a combination of wheat varieties based on observable characteristics, he or she also chooses to use an unobservable set of genetic resources and their attributes. Further, the Cobb-Douglas functional form implies a certain physical relationship among inputs that is not likely to capture well the physical relationship of genetic resource variables to crop output. In general, care must be taken in drawing conclusions from the performance of any single variable in the set and we should bear in mind that farmers' choices may be restricted or limited by factors other than production factors.Estimating effects on yield stability. A yield stability model has also been estimated to focus more specifically on the effects of genetic resource use and diversity on yield variation. A common choice of dependent variable for yield variability studies using time-series data is either the coefficient of variation or the Cuddy-Della Valle index (see Singh and Byerlee 1990). Since the number of years covered in the data are few compared to the number of districts, an alternate method has been used to isolate the effects of inputs on yield variation while preserving all observations for use in the regression analysis.The dependent variable in the yield stability model was obtained by detrending mean yield over the seven-year period. The detrending procedure used a linear time-trend regression to identify the yearly yield increase. This amount was then subtracted from mean yield for years following the midpoint, here 1982. Similarly, the yearly yield increase was added to mean yield for years preceding the midpoint. With the effect of yield increases removed from the mean, the new dependent variable is calculated by subtracting the detrended mean yield over the time period from each district's observed yield.Economic theory provides little guidance in the use of a particular functional form or variables to include in a yield stability regression. The regression model was specified as:(3)where (Y-DY) ht = absolute value of yield first difference of the h-th observation in period t, X iht = the i-th conventional explanatory input, such as weather and fertilizer effects, of the h-th observation in period t, and Z jht = the j-th genetic resource or diversity input of the h-th observation in period t. Management System, maintained at CIMMYT (see Fox and Skovmand 1996). As the objective was to measure the contribution of specific inputs to wheat yield over geographic areas, the unit of observation is input and output per land unit (hectare) for each district. Output is measured in physical units, i.e., yield in tons per hectare. However, some variables, such as measures of education, are expressed as a proportion of the total population in the area.Sources of error. Specification bias emerging from this data set includes errors in the variables in addition to problems from possible omitted or irrelevant variables. Operational errors in variable measurement occur when quality differences are not included. Where appropriate and when possible, data are adjusted for quality as suggested by Peterson (1987). The anticipated direction of biased estimates, if known, is noted below in the section on regression results when quality adjustment is not possible. Two other possible sources of measurement error noted by Heisey (1990) are varietal identification problems and the use of inappropriate sampling methods in the annual estimates of Punjab wheat varietal distribution conducted by the Crop Reporting Service (CRS) in Lahore.Conventional input variables. Dependent variables and conventional inputs thought to be important determinants of wheat output are:Wheat yield in metric tons per hectare for each district and year.Wheat yield variability expressed as tons per hectare from the detrended mean for each district and year.Irrigation Calculated as the proportion of wheat cropped area under irrigation for each district.Calculated as the total nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium fertilizer used in the production of wheat in units of kilograms of nutrients per hectare.Weather variable calculated as the total cumulative annual rainfall for each district in millimeters.Education variable given as the proportion of the district's population that is literate.A measure of the availability of mechanized traction in each district, expressed as the number of tractors per hectare.A measure of the availability of non-mechanized traction in each district, expressed as the number of bullocks per hectare.A measure of human labor used in the production of wheat for each district. Expressed as total man hours per hectare, where one man-day is the amount of labor performed by a healthy male working seven hours.As suggested by the section on production environments, irrigated and rainfed areas differ significantly in mean levels of input use and wheat yields (Table 6).Genetic resource and diversity variables. Genetic resource use and diversity variables were developed from the concepts described above:Average different landraces per pedigree of varieties grown.Average number of different parental combinations per pedigree of varieties grown.Genealogical distance of varieties grown, measured as the total branch length of a dendrogram constructed from cluster analysis of pairwise coefficients of diversity.Coefficient of diversity = 1-coefficient of parentage (discussed earlier).Spatial distribution or concentration of wheat area in varieties grown. Measured using the Herfindahl index (defined earlier).Average age of cultivars grown in each district, used as a measure of varietal turnover.Table 7 shows that the variables representing genealogical distance and the concentration of area among varieties differ significantly at the mean between rainfed and irrigated production environments.  Effects on yield: pooling, collinearity, and specification issues. Given significant differences in mean levels of input use between irrigated and rainfed areas, a Chow test was used to determine whether regressions should be estimated separately for each type of production environment. The Chow test compares the residual sums of squares between the restricted model (R = single regression model, all districts) and unrestricted model (UR = separate regression models, by production environment), with the number of parameters in the model denoted by k, and number of cases (n + m):(4)An observed F-value of 8.036 confirmed that the models should be estimated separately for irrigated and rainfed production environments.Two methods of pooling the cross-sectional time-series data were considered. The first combines the data set into one cross-section, implying that individual cross-section parameters remain constant over time, which may not be unreasonable given the relatively short seven-year series. The second method of pooling recognizes that omitted variables, other errors, or changing structural circumstances may lead to changing cross-section and time-series intercepts, which can be captured by including an indicator variable for time, thus allowing for intercept shifts (Pindyck and Rubinfeld 1981).A test of heterogeneity was also performed to determine the appropriate pooling method.The null hypothesis states that all intercept terms are the same across cross-sections. Two models are regressed. One is restricted (R) to a single intercept whereas the second allows unrestricted (UR) intercepts by the inclusion of indicator variables for different years. The appropriate F-test is as follows:(5) F (dfR-dfUR,dfUR) = Tests for each of the three possible groupings (all districts and irrigated and barani areas) had observed F-statistics greater than their critical value, leading us to reject the null hypothesis suggesting shifting regression intercepts and the inclusion of indicator variables for time when pooling the data.Examination of the simple correlation matrix of the entire data set reveals a possible mild correlation between predictors with an r value of 0.7 between irrigation and parental combinations, genealogical distance, literacy, labor, and fertilizer. Correlation is also evident between age of varieties and the indicator variable for year and between bullock use and labor (r = 0.75 for both). However, standard errors of regression coefficients were all generally small and little change occurred when variables were dropped, suggesting that the regression effects of correlation among the explanatory variables are mild.Among irrigated districts, variance inflation factors (VIFs) for the independent variables ranged between 29.5 and 14.9 for age of variety and indicator variables for year. 8(RSS R -RSS UR )/k RSS UR /(n+ m-2k) 8 The VIF represents the increase in variance due to correlation between predictors, which is suggestive of collinearity.Some degr ee of correlation might be expected, since age of varieties will advance one unit for each year. Removing the variable for age of varieties resulted in a reduction of all VIFs as well as a drop in the condition number k from 20.3 to 8.7, but changed the signs on the coefficients for the cross and genealogical distance variables (although their t-values remained non-significant). 9 The signs on other coefficients did not change, nor did their level of significance. Based on these results, the age of varieties variable was retained because its coefficient is significant at the 5% level among the irrigated districts.Collinearity appears to be a moderate problem in these data, but this problem is not easily solved in the absence of new data and because economic theory suggests that each of these variables should be included in the yield decomposition regression. In the barani data set, VIFs are generally higher but with changes in coefficients, t-values, and standard errors that are similar to the irrigated areas when variables are omitted.Finally, diagnostic plots of Studentized residuals versus fitted values for both irrigated and barani areas were used to check for correct model specification. Each plot shows little in the way of systematic patterns. Systematic patterns would indicate nonlinearity in the model and the need for respecification. A check for the presence of heteroscedasticity, using nonconstant variance score plots, has little evidence in the regression model for irrigated regions but is strongly evident in the model for the rainfed districts. This implies that for the rainfed districts the parameter estimators are inefficient, although they are unbiased and consistent (Pindyck and Rubinfeld 1981).Interpretation of parameter estimates. Regression results for the effects on yield of conventional inputs and genetic resource and diversity indicators are shown in Table 8. Coefficients of conventional inputs for irrigated areas are of the anticipated positive signs, except for labor. This result is surprising, along with its high significance, because of labor shortages in this production environment. In this instance, the construction of the labor variable may have actually over-stated the true level of labor use. Also of interest, but without explanation, is the lack of significance of the coefficient for tractor use, given the increased role of tractors in wheat production in irrigated areas. 10   In barani areas, negative coefficients were found for rain, bullock use, literacy, and tractor use; all except literacy are significant at a minimum 10% level. Why increased use in these inputs would result in yield reduction is not readily apparent. Wheat in the barani areas relies primarily on residual moisture from the summer season, and therefore yearly cumulative annual rainfall at one location is likely to be a poor predictor of soil moisture availability in different districts during the rabi cropping cycle. For the rainfall variable, a negative sign might imply that rainfall occurs at the wrong times, such as during harvest, but we cannot draw this conclusion with certainty because the variable is constructed as a yearly cumulative measure. A negative tractor use coefficient could result from adverse soil compaction associated with tractor movement on relatively thinner barani soils.Or per haps tractor use is positively correlated with the lighter, lower yielding soils.In the irrigated areas, the estimated effects of the genetic resource and diversity variables are negative except for the coefficient for concentration of area among fewer varieties.Only coefficients for age of varieties and area concentration of varieties are significant. A positive sign for area concentration is anticipated because increased planting of the highest yielding variety will also increase total yields. A negative sign on age of varieties is also anticipated because low varietal turnover suggests the continued use of varieties whose disease resistance is weakened. Slow varietal turnover also denies producers the use of new varieties possibly having greater yield potential as well as other sources of disease resistance.In barani areas, all signs of coefficients of genetic resource and diversity variables are positive with the exception of that for crosses, and only coefficients for genealogical distance and landraces are significant. A positive and significant coefficient on genealogical distance suggests that an increasing dissimilarity of genetic background enhances yield. Here, genealogical diversity may be associated with a widening (or targeting) of the adaptability of varieties to this particular production environment, which would enhance yields. The value of adaptability may also explain the yield enhancing effect of having incorporated additional landrace material, which is often used by breeders for sources of resistance to abiotic stress. However, confidence in the barani area regression results is eroded by the small sample size of 28 observations and only 9 degrees of freedom, which may also explain the unusual signs on many of the conventional production inputs.  The yield equations show how different components of the genetic resource use and diversity set become relatively more or less important determinants of yield as one changes production environments. However, because the resource and diversity variables are meant to jointly describe the patterns of diversity found in farmers' fields, it is appropriate to test the significance of their inclusion as a group. F-tests identical to those for testing the hypothesis of unchanging intercepts were employed to test the null hypothesis that all coefficients for the genetic resource and diversity variables are equal to zero. For both irrigated and barani areas the observed F-statistics were smaller than their critical values, suggesting that the group of variables provided no explanation for variation in yield. This result is not entirely surprising, considering the strong effects of traditional inputs versus diversity effects, which may be quite subtle determinants of yield growth and yet very important in the maintenance of yield and other qualities. This result may also express shortcomings in our specification. This result supports the hypothesis that a wider genealogical distance among cultivated varieties, implying greater \"latent diversity,\" may be associated with greater aggregate yield stability among the districts of Punjab. The effect of fertilizer use is not surprising, since fertilizer use can be either variance-increasing or variance-decreasing, depending on the production circumstances (Just and Pope 1979). Increased age of varieties is likely to tend to increase aggregate yield fluctuations, again because of varietal obsolescence resulting in yield losses (this also depends, of course, on local disease pressure and weather conditions).Questions concerning the diversity of genetic resources in today's agricultural production and plant technology systems have prompted economists to study the relationships between genetic resources, genetic diversity, and production outcomes. An understanding of these relationships will eventually provide guidance in formulating policies that influence patterns of varietal diversity in farmers' fields and in the allocation of genetic resources to their profitable use.This study has sought to augment the understanding of genetic resource diversity and value by pursuing two tracks of inquiry that take wheat production in the Punjab of Pakistan from 1979 to 1985 as an example. The first was an examination of patterns of varietal diversity occurring in farmers' fields both at the regional and district levels. The second sought to identify how and in what ways genetic resources have contributed to wheat productivity and yield stability -two important considerations both to individual farmers and national authorities where wheat is the staple food crop.A prerequisite for any diversity study, however, is the development of indicators appropriate to the task. Here we have expressed genetic resource use and diversity in terms of five distinct concepts. The use of genetic resources is expressed as the number of different landraces and parental combinations appearing in the pedigree of a cultivar. This measure captures the contribution of farmers' previous selections and scientific breeding efforts. The diversity of wheat varieties in a geographical area, as related to productivity, is captured by measures of area concentration (diversity in space) and age of varieties (diversity in time). Finally, the relative dissimilarity of cultivars grown in a geographical area is measured using a distance indicator constructed from genealogical information. Together, these indicators are used to describe the system of wheat genetic resource use and diversity in farmers' fields.Disaggregated analysis at the district level demonstrates how diversity patterns are influenced by the production environment and by possible differences in the availability of suitable varietal technologies. Generally, the most productive irrigated areas show a cyclical pattern of varietal adoption characterized by more rapid turnover (seven to nine years) but higher concentration of area among fewer varieties.The marginal, rainfed production environments are characterized by a later and more gradual replacement of landrace types and other tall varieties with semidwarf wheats. However, it appears that fewer varieties are released in these areas or are suitable for their growing conditions, resulting in a high concentration of area in a single variety and low varietal turnover. Other characteristics, such as fodder value, may also have an impact on what varieties farmers choose to grow.The contribution of the various components of resource use and diversity to wheat production and stability vary by production environment. In the irrigated areas, only concentration of area among fewer varieties and age of varieties has a significant impact on yield. The positive sign on the coefficient of concentration implies that as more area is planted to a single variety, presumably the highest yielding variety, yields rise. The negative coefficient on age of varieties demonstrates that slow varietal replacement has a depressing effect on yield. When more area is concentrated among fewer varieties, however, diversity over space decreases and the risk of yield losses caused by disease increases. Increasing the rate of varietal replacement in farmers' fields counters the likelihood of an epidemic occurring but requires a highly organized and efficient seed multiplication and distribution system. In the barani areas, genealogical distance and number of landraces in the genetic background of varieties are positively associated with mean yield.Test results suggest, however, that the yield effect of genetic resource and diversity variables, as measured by our indicators, is statistically insignificant when those variables are tested as a group. A partial explanation for this result may be that plant breeders are faced with a variety of breeding objectives, of which yield is not of the highest priority. Another explanation is that the genetic resource variables used here do not capture differences in yield potential or genotypic variation in yield, especially when constructed over districts. Even when the yield potential of newly released varieties is higher, current production practices may not fully exploit the benefits. A more likely explanation is that we have not adequately captured biological relationships in the Cobb-Douglas functional form.The yield stability equation suggests that greater genealogical diversity and increased varietal turnover are associated with reduced yield variability among the districts of Punjab over the study period. The positive effect of genealogical distance, which we have used to measure the dissimilarity of varieties grown, may reflect the value of wide adaptability (or targeted adaptability) of varieties across locations. Higher rates of varietal turnover decrease yield variability by maintaining the disease resistance of varieties in farmers' fields, which reduces the yield destabilizing effects of uneven disease pressure across locations and time.To synthesize, among the wheats grown in the districts of the Punjab of Pakistan from 1979 to 1985, there are patterns of greater diversity in the varieties grown by farmers. In some factors, there are large differences between production environments and individual districts, which suggest that efforts to increase diversity in farmers' fields will require policy instruments tailored to the individual circumstances of each production environment.Greater genealogical dissimilarity and higher rates of varietal replacement are likely to have positive payoffs relative to aggregate yield stability. In areas where production constraints inhibit farmers' ability to exploit the yield potential of their varieties, better production management is likely to have greater yield enhancing effects than the varietal attributes related to diversity."}

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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"77e3ac3388619e815d9684b659aa237a","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/6af936da-01ff-44dd-adbb-645b0061681c/retrieve","id":"1096481867"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"cd9570e5-c462-48e4-a074-ac84cad56f93","content":"CCAFS and other programs in research for development have been mandated with tackling wicked problems such as poverty, rural development, climate change and food insecurity. Wicked problems are difficult to solve because their requirements are contradictory, changing, hard to reconcile and often not well understood. Solutions typically require many people to change mind-sets and behaviour (Rittel and   Webber, 1973). Wicked problems call for an integrated approach to negotiate common understanding as a problem unfolds so that responses are acceptable to different social groups whose interests might conflict (Carlile et al, 2013). Wicked problems are not amenable to traditional linear approaches where innovations are primarily technical (Water  Scarcity Livelihoods and Food Security,  2014).The happy families of social learning -mapping the complex domains of learning and social change• Social learning is a complex field of study and practice that has many natural relations with other 'domains' related to e.g. complexity and systems thinking, learning and knowledge, online social interactions.• Not each of these domains is well mapped and understood, and their remit expands, or at least changes over time, making the differences sometimes increasingly thinner.• Most of these related domains however do not combine the full set of social learning characteristics i.e. its transformative nature, the iterative and looped learning approach, the attention to social differentiation and power play, the importance of facilitating social learning processes and of paying attention to capacity development, the intent of considering the whole picture and of co-creating solutions.• There is no hierarchy among these domains. This brief only recognizes that there are strong similarities but also some key differences. Each of these domains bears its own limitations and a given domain or approach may be more appropriate for a specific context than social learning. In many ways, social learning and related 'families' borrow the same approaches, tools and methods at different times in their very own process, or even use each other.Given the complexity of this agenda, social learning (SL) -and its focus on getting diverse stakeholders to embark on collective reflection and actionseems a very promising option. The idea behind using SL in this context is to examine and potentially change ideas, discourses, practices that are supposed to help tackle these wicked problems. However, 'Social Learning' might seem a muddled-up concept. As mentioned above, there are some characteristics of SL that we found instrumental in making SL a useful vehicle to tackle wicked problems and working in complex systems:• Goes beyond mere 'learning' because of the scale it is concerned with; it goes \"beyond the individual to networks and systems\". It is transformative, in the sense that it changes the level-playing field, beyond the sum of changes that affect each actor involved. \"SL is thus an emergent property of the process to transform the situation.\" (SLIM 1 );• SL is deep, it entails looped learning: it goes beyond searching for more efficient solutions to a problem (single loop learning), to considering the theory and assumptions guiding those solutions and looking for new types of solutions (double loop learning), and ideally on to considering how we learn to learn and find more effective ways of coming up with dynamic, context-based, ever adaptive and proactive solutions to the endless series of new complex problems that arise (triple loop learning).• SL is iterative: it is not a one-off operation, even if it is applied in modest ways, to small groups of people; it always concerns changes that affect entire groups of people in the medium and longer term, through events and joint activities, with regular feedback loops on those 'happenings', which progressively pave the way for transformation;• SL is often facilitated: it is not always about learning that would happen 'anyway', in some cases SL happens without facilitation (e.g. in the context of a disaster that strikes a community and brings together new solutions to the fore). However, given the complexity and sensitivity of relations involved in its processes, SL often relies on carefully supported learning processes where issues of power and social differentiation are addressed to ensure proper representation from various groups, and mitigating power play from certain actors. In that context, facilitation often plays a role in creating good conditions to affect the transformative power of SL. That does not mean to say that facilitation is a linear process in itself. On the contrary, it is often as emergent as the SL process is and may take different shapes and levels of intensity at different times.• One of the main reasons why facilitation plays a key role in SL is to guarantee that social differentiation is addressed, that various perspectives come into play, that power play is countered. Without diverse perspectives, multiple \"knowledges\", there is no SL.• SL processes should try and make the most of everyone's presence, thus they have to pay attention to the capacities required for SL to unfold in the best possible ways. From interpersonal communication skills (listening, empathy, developing trust, etc.) to documentation, leadership -see the 'profile of a social learning hero 2 ' for more about this.• SL centrally entails 'co-creation' of solutions. \"SL seen as a process of co-creation of knowledge, which provides insight into the causes of, and the means required to, transform the situation. SL is thus an integral part of or constitutive of concerted action\" (SLIM).• Finally, and perhaps most importantly, SL distinguishes itself from other approaches to enquiry in as far as it is the result of genuine intent to question and challenge the status quo and to consider if change is necessary and, if so, how it may happen. In many cases, that intent is not entirely there from the start or consistently present among all actors involved, but it is essential that it becomes a shared purpose for all actors involved. Various broad fields are connected with SL, effectively playing as related families, each of which will be further elaborated below:• The complex systems field -the most prominent field given the emphasis on complexity and wicked problems;• The research field -since the work in CCSL is very strongly embedded in development research;• The (online) 'social' field, which is fast gaining traction these days;• The 'learning' field and all its applications;• And finally, there are other approaches that do not belong to specific 'fields' or families and could be considered cross-cutting in social learning. Chief among them is gender and equity as explained in figure 1. The first major family that relates to SL is that of complexity and systems thinking.Complexity thinking is hailed, in the development and corporate worlds, as the new paradigm in which we operate.With quite some ground. We do oper-ate in a complex, highly interconnected world, and recent communication channels and social networks have both multiplied the connections between nodes and sharpened our awareness of that connectivity and complexity.As we realise the potential of 'complex adaptive systems', which human groupings almost always are, we realise that complexity thinking is an important tool in our attempts at analysing our environment.Against this background, SL is simply a more adapted approach at dealing with that complexity because it relies on more eyeballs, arms, legs, brains and hearts to have any grasp on that big picture. Complexity thinking is not so much a relative of SL as the valley in which SL operates -and it is also the canal through which SL happens (the unpredictable flow that leads to an unknowable destination, despite conscious steps taken, one at a time, in3 This blog post is but one of the sources to unravel the differences: http://sonjablignaut.wordpress.com/2013/10/28/5-differences-between-complexity-systems-thinking/ 4 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Systems_thinking -Accessed 18 December 2014 5 http://km4meu.wordpress.com/2013/04/21/whats-really-new-about-social-learning/ -accessed 18 Dec 2014 a given direction). See below for more specific applications of complexity in the development (research) realm.Very much in line with complexity thinking, in the field of development (research) and particularly in natural resource management and climate change, we are focusing on 'wicked problems' that are particular instances of the intractable, ultra-integrated, ultra-complex nature of development.Climate change, chronic poverty, food insecurity are not problems that can be dealt with by one-size-fits-all, blueprint or off-the-shelf solutions seen as 'silver bullets'. They are problems, or more largely issues whose beginnings and root causes are difficult to discern and whose ends are impossible to predict.Arguably even solutions to these wicked problems do not exist. Facing these problems we simply must act and reflect about how we act. The more people are embarked on that process of action learning, the more likely we are able to understand the ins and outs of these wicked problems and develop capacities to deal with and proactively anticipate some of their likely consequences.Resilience thinking relates to wicked problems in the context of fast changing environments, and particularly in the domain of climate change. Resilience \"is the capacity of a system to absorb disturbance and still retain its basic function and structure\" (Walker et al., p. xii). Resilience as a capacity that is held by individuals and groups relates to the ability to deal with existing problems and upcoming challenges time and time again.Where does SL fit in all of this? It is perhaps simply the most relevant type of approach to deal with such wicked problems, and perhaps to build resilience/capacity to deal with yet unknown problems. The connection here is not really a family tie, rather a space in which SL seems to thrive or find its most complete application. As for resilience thinking, SL, by its dynamics of capacity development (meaning co-creation) encourages resilience, perhaps even un-consciously. In turn, resilience thinking offers new avenues for SL to be tried out. Resilience thinking is thus not a relative of SL as much as a 'neighbourhood kid', and the games between the two benefit each other.While structured systems can be managed, complexity (and complex adaptive systems) can't. Although many people mistake them for one and the same, systems thinking is different to complexity 3 .\"Systems thinking has been applied to problem solving, by viewing \"problems\" as parts of an overall system, rather than reacting to specific parts, outcomes or events and potentially contributing to further development of unintended consequences. Systems thinking is not one thing but a set of habits or practices [2] within a framework that is based on the belief that the component parts of a system can best be understood in the context of relationships with each other and with other systems, rather than in isolation. Systems thinking focuses on cyclical rather than linear cause and effect. 4 \"Where structured systems thinking does relate to SL is that bringing together diverse actors around an agenda that is not entirely known from the onset progressively reveals that system of which all actors are part. SL certainly tries to know and affect the entire system (i.e. systemic transformation).In sum, SL borrows very much from complexity and systems thinking arenas, as the playing field in which it happens.It is connected to resilience in the ability to develop capacities to 'deal with the complexity of the system' and like systems thinking, SL unravels 'the system' itself by bringing all actors together.SL has very close relatives in the field of research.Perhaps one of the closest relatives, participatory research (and participatory approaches generally) shares the following elements from SL: the importance of social differentiation (involving other groups than e.g. just researchers), the (relative) facilitation involved in training and guiding non-academic researchers in the process of research and thus the consideration for the capacities of the actors involved.That said, \"participatory approaches could actually just involve specific groups for specific activities but not really keep these groups front and centre, involved from the get-go and throughout the initiative 5 \". Indeed, participation can be conjured up for very specific parts of a project, but may not mean that consciously selected diverse actors are taking part in every activity and decision and are co-creating meaning.The main objective of participatory research is not to transform a system but to ensure the uptake of research is more effective, and sometimes that capacities of non-formal researchers are developed in the process.Equally, there is no objective of 'transformation at scale' in participatory research, and there is not always much thought going into the possible power dynamics and participation biases in such activities. Subsequently, participatory research could be considered a cousin of SL, or one of the methods that could be used in a wider SL approach, but no more than that ...Narrowly linked to participatory research, action research (AR) shares with SL the concern for iteration, for learning -including looped learning -and for the intent of finding solutions. The main distinction with SL lies in the fact that AR could be carried out as an individual initiative, it does not require per se the presence of diverse, complementary and representative actors. Social differentiation and power are therefore largely absent from the discourse around AR -and there is usually very little need for facilitation in AR initiatives. Finally, the scale of AR does not reveal an ambition to achieve transformation at a large scale... For all these reasons, AR and SL are related but not the same, and once The main distinction perhaps is the scale of PAR that may not be system-wide. Accordingly, actors involved in PAR may be more limited than in SL. In some cases processes may be one and the same, however.In the online social field, at least three different family branches are related to SL:Social media networks (e.g. Facebook, Twitter, Weibo, Instagram etc.) offer historically unparalleled ways to connect and engage with each other simultaneously at scale. They present a revolution in the way people interact and learn together 8 . So much so that the term 'social learning' is actually applied a lot to describe the learning that happens in the workplace among individuals connected through social media (see 'enterprise 2.0 below). However, in social media networks, there is not necessarily intent to adopt a looped learning approach, to understand and/or transform a complex system, and the learning that happens is more often than not un-facilitated. Similarly, the capacities of the different actors involved in social media network interactions are not explicitly considered and worked upon.However, social change movements that took place in recent times (e.g. the Arab Spring in 2011) combined various features of SL. Social media networks may be mobilized in SL approaches, but usually they do not, in and of themselves, constitute SL approaches. On the other hand, SL approaches may make use of social media networks to further expand and deepen connections between the actors involved -and occasionally to learn together too.Related to social media networks, E2.0 looks specifically at how companies are embracing social media to change the way business is done internally (among staff) and with external partners, clients or consumers. E2.0 is \"the use of emergent social software platforms within companies, or between companies and their partners or customers\". Crowdsourcing refers to \"the practice of obtaining needed services, ideas, or content by soliciting contributions from a large group of people, and especially from an online community, rather than from traditional employees or suppliers 10 \"). In this sense, it shares features of SL as it brings together various actors. In fact, crowdsourcing can be a 'modus operandi' for certain activities undertaken in a SL approach (e.g. as has been the case several times in the CCSL sandbox), but it is not SL by itself since it does not focus on learning, is not facilitated but usually following the freeform and voluntary approach of the Open Source movement 11 . The ways crowd sourced efforts deal with power and social differentiation are also not very clear.In summary, SL borrows some of the techniques, tools and approaches from the online 'SL' realm, but they relate mostly on that 'modus operandi' level only, not so much on the wider social implications.In the learning and knowledge field, various families are related to SL. Deeper down, these families also connect with (less famous) theories such as Mezirow's 'transformational learning' 12 http://www.qotfc.edu.au/resource/?page=65375 -accessed 18 Dec. 201412 13 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Organizational_learning -accessed 18 Dec. 2014 14 http://km4meu.wordpress.com/2012/09/02/managing-or-facilitating-change-not-just-a-question-of-words -accessed 18 Dec. 2014(\"An important part of transformative learning is for individuals to change their frames of reference by critically reflecting on their assumptions and beliefs and consciously making and implementing plans that bring about new ways of defining their worlds. This process is fundamentally rational and analytical (Mezirow, 1997).Adult learning -or andragogy -\"is a theory that holds a set of assumptions about how adults learn. Andragogy emphasizes the value of the process of learning. It uses approaches to learning that are problem-based and collaborative rather than didactic, and also emphasizes more equality between the teacher and learner. 12 \" Adult learning is usually invoked in SL, since most SL initiatives relate to processes involving adults, particularly around aspects of facilitation, but also -though to a lesser extent -of social differentiation and power relations. However, adult learning is only a part of SL and it is not concerned with transformation, looped learning, the scale of SL etc. However some techniques that are used to stimulate adult learning, such as Open Space Technology and the attention to critical listening, are deeply transformative and may overlap very much with SL, with perhaps less emphasis on social differentiation and the collective scale (i.e. an Open Space could be used to generate individual solutions). At any rate SL and adult learning both put due emphasis on facilitation, if only to 'hold the space'.A Community of Practice (CoP) is, according to cognitive anthropologists Jean Lave and Etienne Wenger, a group of people who share a craft and/or a profession. The group can evolve naturally because of the members' common interest in a particular domain or area, or it can be created specifically with the goal of gaining knowledge related to their field. It is through the process of sharing information and experiences with the group that the members learn from each other, and have an opportunity to develop themselves personally and professionally (Lave & Wenger 1991). There is much learning going on in a CoP and that learning can be purposeful, facilitated and happening at scale. However one key difference with SL is that the social differentiation is somewhat more limited in as far as the profession or practice domain that brings members together is relatively homogeneous in a CoP. Still, the conversation and reflection processes taking place in a CoP may resemble what SL would look like if it focused on a very specific technical issue or problem rather than a complex societal problem.Organizational learning (OL) \"is an area of knowledge within organizational theory that studies models and theories about the way an organization learns and adapts (Vasenska, 2013:615). In organisational development (OD), learning is a characteristic of an adaptive organisation, i.e., an organisation that is able to sense changes in signals from its environment (both internal and external) and adapt accordingly. OD specialists endeavour to assist their clients to learn from experience and incorporate the learning as feedback into the planning process 13 \".SL may be applied to an organisation and therefore almost equate to organisational learning, but it differs fundamentally in the sense that an organisation has a mandate (thus a clear goal in mind), has a formal structure and hierarchy (thus an established power structure that is enforced) and OL may also not be preoccupied with social differentiation. Looped learning is not always an explicit objective of OL. Not all OL activities are facilitated, although they are usually driven and 'managed' (facilitating and managing processes are two very different things 14 ). In some cases, OL can result in profoundly transformative processes and results, but the starting premise of OL in formal boundaries makes it a distant cousin of SL.Knowledge management (KM) is an equally diffuse field as SL, in that most actors involved also do not always agree on the very definition of that field and its terminology. KM is broadly concerned with the use of information (explicit, codified, tangible, structured) and knowledge (tacit, intangible) assets and related processes (needs identification, creation, sharing, application, evaluation). KM usually combines information management, knowledge sharing and increasingly learning to identify ways to use those assets to achieve one's (whether an individual, team, organisation or even society) goals more effectively and more proactively.The connection with SL is the fact that KM conjures up knowledge sharing, facilitation, learning and some tools that are typically used in SL initiatives. However, it fails to consistently address social differentiation and power issues, it is not necessarily applied at a large scale, and doesn't inherently seek change and transformation. In this respect, KM is a close cousin to SL, it is also part of SL, but they are two families that share members only to a certain extent...Perhaps the confusion in the relation between SL and innovation comes from the particular 'innovation platform' approach, which usually entails SL. Innovation platforms -and 'learning alliances, research for development (R4D) platforms, etc.' -are multi-stakeholder platforms (MSPs), usually connected to one another across geographic areas and scales (from grassroots level up to national or even international level) in order to crack complex problems or deal with complex agendas. In this sense, the activities of such platforms, over time, align very closely with SL. In a way, MSPs are perhaps the most complete 'form' of a SL approach, in the sense that they bring together diverse participants, are usually facilitated, keep a keen eye on power issues, and pay attention to the capacities of the actors involved. However, one cannot say that MSPs 'are' SL, because they may not work iteratively and may not focus explicitly on learning, let alone looped learning. Sometimes MSPs are run simply to bring everyone together to discuss a given issue for a short period of time, or even just to inform various groups of people. MSPs and particularly innovation platforms are thus often part of SL, but they are so only if they work iteratively and with deep learning in mind, and they are the most time-consuming and labour-intensive forms of a SL approach.They might be considered a little brother of SL. They relate to innovation systems very much, but the latter are not directly connected to SL on the other hand.While the \"national innovation system\" was characterised by Lundvall (1985) as 'the elements and relationships which interact in the production, diffusion and use of new, and economically useful, knowledge ... and are either located within or rooted inside the borders of a nation state.\" There is no consensus on the exact definition of an innovation system. Yet a number of development authors, particularly in the field of agriculture, have been working around this notion as a way to consider how technological and/or social innovation emerges as a result of various actors interacting (Anandajayasekeram, P. (2011, pp.6-7).The innovation systems field is quite different from SL, even though principles of innovation overlap a bit with SL: iteration is essential (short feedback loops and failing fast to reveal the strongest parts of innovation), diverse perspectives (since innovation is usually found at the edges), looped learning (double and triple loop learning are at the heart of innovation), and the aspiration to change and potential transformation. Particularly the field of 'open innovation' that utilises crowd sourcing is much more social by nature and shares many features from SL.Where innovation differs from SL, nonetheless, is in the fact that the diverse views are used 'instrumentally only', not for the benefits of all actors involved but for the benefit of innovation itself. If innovation happens with fewer actors, there is no reason to broaden the scale. Except in some applications of open innovation (e.g. development of the Linux operating system), there is no specific 'socially inclined' dimension of innovation. Power is not often addressed in innovation efforts. Facilitation is not always present -which actually requires a lot of freedom and 'blue sky thinking', and the scale of innovation is large only if the innovation in mind has wide application, but that is not always the case.Process/product innovation is thus not a close relative of SL: it shares some common features and aspirations -particularly in its open variation -but does not fulfil the same agenda and has a rather different focus to start with.In sum: The learning field has some very close relations with SL, but equally also distances itself from it by its lesser focus on 'social' issues (differentiation, power) and on societal objectives.This brief tries to look at a wide range of approaches or disciplines from a social learning (SL) lens, to better understand and appreciate their similarities and differences.Figure 3 below introduces the degree of relatedness to social learning of these different fields, based on a subjective assessment of the features that they share with social learning. • The scale of these dimensions may change a lot and most of the domains related to SL do not have societal aspirations, they are related to a specific grouping of people (sometimes from a similar profile such as in CoPs) or to a specific time-scale;• Learning is included in a great many domains, but options of scale, openness to learning and to one's own shortcomings are not playing in favour of extensive learning initiatives;• Most of the domains tackled do not put an explicit focus on facilitation, social differentiation and dealing with power issues. If learning is difficult, ensuring an equal opportunity to all perspectives seems the hardest condition to ensure;• Yet a lot of these domains share similar tools and techniques, which are just applied for different purposes. This is encouraging for building linkages across these domains;• Similarly, a lot of people involved in SL work are also involved in some or many of the domains considered here;• Disciplines and schools of thought are dynamic and evolve. It is therefore likely that each of the fields mentioned has the tendency to expand and progressively embrace more of the characteristics of SL.• Equally, each of these domains has some limitations and these should be recognised. SL may seem powerful but it comes at a very high transaction cost, it remains complex and terribly difficult to assess in a way that clearly demonstrates its benefits, and it bears the risk of never leading to genuine triple-loop learning (pending on proper attention to social differentiation, power issues, facilitation and capacities of the actors involved). This means that there is no hierarchy between the domains compared here. Some are just better indicated for certain junctions.• In practice, at different times, SL may borrow from either of these domains for its own stake -and the alternative may be true (e.g. a participatory learning initiative may undertake SL approaches at certain moments, or an online learning movement may turn to have societal claims that resemble SL).As mentioned in the introduction, this exercise is a rather basic and superficial exploration of these domains, to kickstart a conversation and where possible connect these domains. Since the claim of SL is to tackle complex problems, it is only natural it rallies energies and capacities wherever possible. We hope that in practice SL will make better use of all these domains if it helps its own objectives.• Social Learning for integrated water managing (SLIM): https://sites.google. com/site/slimsociallearningforiwm/ social-learning "}

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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"bd645e5b25e04fa4c60dc036b8283d73","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/fd811b70-4648-4ba3-b990-e11760a92acc/retrieve","id":"-918531841"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"ea1d0b18-3c81-4c89-9b38-e87e4509f9ca","content":"The Technical Centre for Agricultural and Rural Cooperation (CTA) was established in 1983 under the Lomé Convention between the ACP (African, Caribbean and Pacific) Group of States and the European Union Member States. Since 2000, it has operated within the framework of the ACP-EC Cotonou Agreement.CTA's tasks are to develop and provide services that improve access to information for agricultural and rural development, and to strengthen the capacity of ACP countries to produce, acquire, exchange and utilise information in this area.RRRP 2002/1 Young People and Agriculture 6 units may be a better way of promoting agriculture than simply having it as another subject in the curriculum.Other schemes deliberately focus on young people who have been forced to leave education, most commonly as a result of poverty. The National Youth Service Scheme in The Gambia is one such example, and is featured in the item 'Early school-leavers get practical training'. Every year the government-run scheme offers around one hundred young people fully subsidised training in a skill area of their choice; the training is provided by different colleges and institutions around the country, according to the field chosen by the trainee. The interview focuses particularly on the different kinds of agriculture training available. 'A brighter future for Kenya's young school leavers', highlights the work of the Limuru Agricultural Youth Centre close to Nairobi, which offers subsidised courses for young people. There are interviews with the principal of the centre, and two former students.One way to motivate young people to stay in agriculture is to involve them in agricultural development projects. There are some examples of this in the item 'Students seek to inspire in South Africa', in which two agricultural students from South Africa's northern province talk about their work within their communities to improve farming practices and involve both adults and other young people in agricultural development. Grace Angel Mhlodi describes some work she has done with women who are hampered by their fears and suspicions of witchcraft, and Michael Mokwala talks about a poultry project which some young people in his area are becoming interested in.If young people are to choose to work in agriculture they need to see it as both a financially rewarding sector, and as modern and challenging. However, for many young people, farming is perceived as old-fashioned, offering little opportunity for making money, and generally being something that you do if you fail your school exams, and cannot get a paid job in some other business. Those who decide to make a living from farming can feel ashamed in front of their friends, as Daniel Sikazwe found out when he spoke to Viache Makunmbe, a young Zambian farmer who has remained committed to agriculture as a way of life, despite the temptations of 'white collar' jobs. The interview is called 'Farming -a way-of-life to be proud of?'. The image of farming is also addressed by the agricultural extension officer for Arusha district, in 'Community action for rural youth in Tanzania'. The report highlights the work of a non-government organisation that is training young people to start income generating projects; two beneficiaries of the work describe the profits they are now making from agricultural production.The role of extension officers in empowering rural youth feature strongly in two other reports. In 'Dynamic extension to energise young farmers' Martha Chindong talks to the young president of a common initiative group, which has built up a profitable farming business. The group's success owes much to the dynamic work of a local extension officer, who has introduced the group to organic production methods, and inspired them to expand their operations. Self-help groups are also a feature of a Nigerian government programme to tackle the problem of rural-urban drift. In 'Setting up self-help groups in Nigeria' Adamu Kuyello talks to an officer of the Extension and Rural Youth programme and to a member of a maize production group, about the effectiveness of the government's approach, in enabling young people to make a living in the rural areas. 'A fast track to employment and profit?', looks at a different approach, that of giving young people an area of land to farm. Two beneficiaries of Zimbabwe's Fast Track land resettlement programme describe their achievements and frustrations as new farmers.Any of the topics raised in these interviews could form the basis of a phone-in or a discussion programme. They could also be supplemented with reports from your area on work being done with rural youth.Questions/topics for discussion could include:• To what extent is rural-urban drift occurring, and is it a problem?• Should the government be encouraging young people to become trained to work in industry rather than agriculture?• Is the movement of young people from rural areas likely to lead to a shortage of food production in the future?• Should agricultural projects target those who fail in schools, or target the high achievers -or both?• How should agriculture be taught in schools?• Should young people be helped to access land, inputs and credit?• How should credit schemes for young people be run?• What is the perception of farming as an occupation among young people? What could be done to improve this perception? A government extension programme in Nigeria is helping young people to set up self-help groups. Through these young people become engaged in a variety of income-generating activities, including agriculture and food processing. The report includes comments from a member of the extension service, and one of the group members.Two students from the University of the North in South Africa, describe their participation in projects, through which they are supporting rural development in their home areas, and improving their own farming practices. One of the students describes her work with women who are prevented from working together by their fears of witchcraft.Production units for primary schools 2'42\"Ndambo Ndambo, a project co-ordinator for the Zambian National Farmers Union, is concerned about the small number of school leavers who enter agriculture. He believes that setting up small production units in primary schools may be a better way of encouraging young people into agriculture than having it as a subject in the school curriculum.Young people who decide to pursue a career in farming face many pressures. They may struggle to obtain farm inputs or credit. They may also feel ashamed because they are not working in a 'respectable' white-collar job. This report from Zambia features two young people who describe how they have overcome these difficulties.A report from Cameroon about how the work of one inspiring extension officer has dramatically benefited a group of young people. Working as a common initiative group, they have learned how to use modern, highly productive farming methods, and their farming has been so successful that they are looking to expand their cropping area.The Limuru Agricultural Youth Centre takes eight students per year from each of Kenya's districts, and trains them in agricultural production. The students are selected on the basis that they have passed their primary exams with good grades, but cannot afford to go on to secondary school. This report features the Principal of the centre, who describes the importance of its work, and two former students, who are now making a living from agriculture.RRRP 2002/1 Young People and Agriculture 9Early school-leavers get practical training 3'20\"The National Youth Service Scheme in The Gambia selects one hundred students per year, and offers training in a wide variety of practical skills. This report describes how the training curriculum is organised, and how students who complete the course benefit from it.Community action for rural youth in Tanzania 5'02\"This report comes from Arusha in northern Tanzania, where CADECT, a non-government organisation, is assisting young people and women through grassroots training, and group development. The report also includes comments from the Arusha district extension officer, who advocates the need for modern agricultural techniques to change the perception that farming is old-fashioned.A fast track to employment and profit? 3'14\"The 'Fast Track' programme in Zimbabwe has redistributed land to landless people, in order to give them the opportunity to make a living from agriculture. This report features two young recipients of land, who describe the difficulties they have faced, and the potential they see for their future as farmers.RRRP 2002/1 Young People and Agriculture 10Young People and AgricultureIn Nigeria, as in other parts of Africa, there has been in recent years, a huge drift of people from rural to urban areas. Young people in particular are moving in search of amenities like piped water and electricity, and in the hope of finding work. This movement is having negative effects, both by putting more pressure on the cities, and by draining rural areas of their most productive members.To address the problem, the government in Nigeria, assisted by many non-government organisations, has implemented a campaign that is supporting young people in setting up self-help groups. Adamu Umar Kuyello spoke to Mrs Sara Auta of the Extension and Rural Youth programme, and to Yahaya Usman, a member of a youth organisation in Kaduna state, about the effectiveness of the programme. He began by asking Mrs Auta how the programme is dealing with the problem of rural-urban drift.\"We have realised this problem … OUT:… more income for our benefit. DUR'N 4'01\"Yahaya Usman describing the success achieved by his self-help group in Kaduna state, Nigeria.We have realised this problem. And the sole aim of this programme is to organise the youth into viable groups, so that they can get involved in productive activities that can make them reside in the rural areas, and use what they have, so that they can earn a living in the rural areas instead of moving to the cities, where there are no available white collar jobs.Presently what are your various existing youth organisations?Presently we have youth that are involved in farming. There are both dry season farming activities and wet season farming activities. When we organise them, we encourage them to pick an activity that they are already used to, and activity that they can handle without much problem or difficulty. We have youth groups that are involved in livestock production. We have youth groups that are involved in other income generating activities, like processing of fruits into different snacks and drinks, especially the women, the young girls. We don't force them to do what we want them to do, but we make sure that we advise them on things that they can actually do, and see the gain, and see the profit, to earn an income so that they can be self reliant, instead of moving to the cities where there are no white collar jobs available for them.Maybe you have one or two more words to add to these youth so that they can utilise any opportunity given to them?The youth have the energy, they have the resources. And they are the ones that can actually move this country forward, if given the right guidance and the right opportunity.We formed this organisation in the year 1991, eleven years ago. We had about thirty members when we formed this group, but now we are more than fifty.What are some of the basic activities that you perform in your organisation?My own, I belong to a maize group which we started in 1996 with the Sasakawa project. Formerly we were planting maize at random, with large spacing so when this project came now, we were told that the spacing should be limited to such a number, and ridging should be closer. So thereby we gain a lot of ridges, and a lot of stands in our maize plots. Formerly we used to get about 15 bags per hectare, but when this project started we getting around not less than thirty to forty bags per hectare, which doubled the ration of what we were getting before. And also in the dry season we go into dry season farming.We plant tomato, onion, pepper, carrot, cabbage, lettuce, and cucumber.All these types of activities are meant to prevent youth movement from the rural to the urban centres. How do you see this your organisation helping in this drive?Well we do a large production now. We usually sell it out to the market, whereby we get a lot of money, and thereby we buy a lot of things for the incoming dry season, and also, even some of us buy implements, machines and all these things, which will prevent us from going to the urban centres.And probably you would like to have a word or two for the other youth organisations?They should try to work hard, and look at avenues whereby they can go into more production of this, like our maize project that we are doing now. More youth should come in, because at least now when you go to the urban centre there aren't any white collar jobs, so it is better for us to go into all this production so that we can get more income for our benefit. End of tape.RRRP 2002/1 Young People and Agriculture 12Young People and AgricultureOur next report comes from the University of the North, in Pietersburg, South Africa. Lesibana Mantshiu spoke to some of the students there, about the problems facing young people who live in rural areas. Many of the students are involved in projects to improve the opportunities for rural people. We hear now from two of them, Grace Angel Mhlodi and Michael Mokwala, both students of agriculture, who have taken on the role of inspiring and teaching their fellow villagers about improved farming methods. The first interview is with Grace Angel; Lesibana asked her why she decided to study agriculture at university in the first place.… more especially in our economy. DUR'N 5'00\"Michael Mokwala suggesting that local workshops could help more rural youth to profit from agriculture.I was born and bred in a township surrounded all over by rural areas, and almost everyday children from the rural areas come to the township to sell maize and even ' morokho'-I don't know how to call it in English, but sort of vegetables. So I decided that maybe it would be better for me to acquire more skills in agriculture so that I can come back and implement at home, thereby improving or developing the rural community, in particular.Angel I was involved in projects mostly when I was a registered student already, always during holidays, we were at times urged to go to government places around our areas and look around any kind of agricultural project, and then you volunteer as a worker, thereby trying to gain information. At times we were working with extension officers, whereby you would find mostly women, most of them are single parents who didn't have jobs, and didn't even have husbands to work for them, so they had to depend on ploughing, and all those kind of things, and then make an income or a living out of the money produced from those vegetables.RRRP 2002/1 Young People and Agriculture 13Presently I'm involved in a project conducting research on witchcraft. While working in the field, most women cannot work together, because they are pointing fingers at each other 'I cannot work with so-and-so. It's a witch', and they are not aware of contributing to their own poverty, because if they avoid each other you find that for a project to be sponsored, at least there should be a minimum of ten women, only to find that you will find two or one. And some are complaining about their plants not growing well because they've been bewitched, and all those kind of things. So now this project is helping me with how to handle such conditions, because while interviewing these people, they are somehow counselled. They become aware of the dangers they are causing among themselves.Now lastly, Angel, what are your comments on the involvement of the youth, especially ladies, in agriculture?Most of our young ladies in particular, are having a problem of teenage pregnancies.From there they stop going to school, the parents can no longer afford to send them to school, while at the same time feeding their own children. So I think if some of us youth who have been trained, and have the necessary skills in agriculture, go implement these projects at home, and then put on or employ the youth around there, try to develop them. Maybe to encourage more and more of them to participate, you just have to perform and let everybody follow what you are doing, and not just point.Because if you point, these adults in most cases are not encouraged, are not motivated to work on their own, but if you are there with them, they learn from us and then they get motivated and work together.I became so interested in agriculture in the sense that, my grandfather was having so many cattle, but due to the fact of lack of education, some of them died due to the dryness of the places they were grazing.Now since then have you ever been involved in an agricultural project, that taught you how to deal with cattle, sheep, grazing or anything of that type?There is a new project, which has been established in my village, and I hope from that project I'll learn so many things.What is the actual aim of the project?The actual aim is poultry. We are dealing with chickens, whereby we will be selling the chickens if they are big enough for us to sell them, outside our village, in order to gain an income, and also to extend that particular project for us to ask the youth to get employed in our project, which we have established at this present moment.Now what are your comments about the involvement of the youth in agriculture, especially around your area?The youth in my area, are so interested in our project, but not all of them, as some they take agriculture as a very dirty job, whereby you have to look after chickens, sheep, cattle, they don't have interest, but at least part of them they are having interest in that project.Now what do you think can be done, Michael, so as to attract these youth into agriculture?I think that by conducting some workshops in our area, the youth might become interested in agriculture, as they will be seeing the importance of agriculture in general. It plays a very important role, more especially in our economy. End of tape.RRRP 2002/1 Young People and Agriculture 15Production units for primary schoolsIn many countries agriculture is a common, sometimes even compulsory subject in the school curriculum, particularly at secondary level. However, the status of the subject can be poor, often seen at best as just another academic exam to be passed, and at worst as a kind of punishment.Ndambo Ndambo is a project co-ordinator for the ZNFU, the Zambia National Farmers' Union. Like many in Zambia, he is very concerned about the small number of school leavers who are venturing into agriculture. Chris Kakunta spoke to him about what he felt was necessary to change the perception of farming in a country where only 5% of young people are making a living from agriculture.\"One of the membership drives … OUT:… the young people take over.\" DUR'N 2'42\"Ndambo Ndambo of the Zambia National Farmers Union talking to Chris Kakunta about the need to get young people involved in agriculture.One of the membership drives of the Young Farmers in Zambia has been one where we are targeting the young farmers in the rural areas, those who have gone out of school.There is always this conception that farming is for those who have failed in schools and so on. How are you trying to change the perception of young farmers so that they can venture into agriculture as a source of livelihood?The other part which has been very effective is targeting primary schools and secondary schools, where we have helped to set up production units in the primary schools among the school children, boys and girls. go to advance a different career. But I think the practical aspect of involving these pupils into production units, would be a better way of enhancing, showing them that agriculture can be a source of employment, and also livelihood when they are out of school.Your organisation has been mobilising these youths. I believe there are some problems that you have been facing in trying to stimulate them into agriculture. What are some of these problems?The problems of youth are quite vast, and when we are looking at Zambia, where we have got 62% of the population being youth, and out of that only 5% are living on agriculture. So to make this mass movement turn around to involve the youth and see agriculture as a focus, you need a lot of players in the whole thing. And at ZNFU we have tried our best, but despite our capacity in terms of the staff available to drive this, the efforts we are making at ZNFU are just like a teaspoon of salt in the sea because the capacity of ZNFU is not enough. So we need the integration of all sectors to drive with one force and not have different messages to the young farmers.So where does the future of agriculture lie, considering the government is not putting much emphasis on the youth? Ndambo I think that's a very serious problem, as the government itself has turned a blind eye on the young people in agriculture. Only old people are doing agriculture, and as soon as they die or they become too old, the young people are not motivated to do agriculture, then we are going to have a serious crisis. So at this point in time, I think it is high time we propagated the young people to be in agriculture, so that the chain of production, the responsibility in agriculture continues among the old and then the young people take over. End of tape.Farming -a way-of-life to be proud of?Farmers everywhere find themselves facing many pressures; they may lack access to inputs, and to markets, and their production can easily be hit by poor rains. For young farmers there can also be a pressure from their friends. Farming tends to be looked down upon, as an occupation for those who have failed to get a paid job in a more respected area like medicine or engineering. In this report, Daniel Sikazwe talks to two young farmers who have overcome these pressures. Both are members of the Zambia Young Farmers Clubs. He asks them how they feel about being farmers, and whether they have been tempted to look for white collar work. The young people come from Kabwe, a town 135km from Zambia's capital Lusaka. Alice is 22 years old and Viache Makunmbe is 23. Daniel's first question, 'What made you take up farming?' is addressed to Alice.… that will come behind us.\" DUR'N 4'33\"Viache Makunmbe who has taken on agriculture as a way of life, despite the temptation of white collar jobs.I just came to join into farming through my parents. As I was growing up I just came to get interested in farming, because I'm not educated and I decided to be a farmer, just because I knew I can't chance a job in Zambia.And so what kind of farming did you start doing when it became difficult for you to go ahead with your education, or to get a job? Alice I started growing maize with my parents. Later on my mum she passed away, and even now I'm depending on maize and groundnuts, including beans.Is that enough to help you earn a living?Yes, at least it is much better than staying, because I'm getting whatever I want through farming. I can afford to keep my kids, to feed myself, even though selling it is a problem. In Zambia we don't have a good market, but at least I'm pushing myself up.What have been some of the major challenges that you have had to contend with as a young person in agriculture?Alice I face problems with fertilizer at times. So now we are introducing organic for young farmers; I'm even interested in that. I think that at any time or next year, I may change. Makunmbe My parents and our family, we are all a farming family.Is that what you had always wanted to do in your life?Makunmbe Well I had wanted to do other things but after having looked at the economic crisis, and the unemployment rate in Zambia, I just settled for agriculture, which created a vacuum at the moment.You obviously had friends that you were growing up with, some that you might have shared ambitions of, for instance, becoming a doctor, becoming a pilot, becoming an engineer; how do you relate to them at the moment now that you are in farming, and they are doing probably what they might have set out to do?Makunmbe Well we relate to each other as we related in our past days, because then as a society we are looking at each others -one has to be a farmer, one has to be a doctor, and the other one has to be doing the other job to make a complete society.Are there times you feel tempted to abandon farming altogether, and take up the so called 'White Collar' jobs?Makunmbe There have been several times I have been tempted to leave farming, due to various reasons, one of them being that you come to hit a concrete wall in Zambian farming where you can't acquire any farming inputs, and farming cannot carry on like that.So what has kept you going when things were that tough?Makunmbe Well I have taken farming as a way of living, as a religion. I just believe in it, and I just push, and my heart pushes and I just go ahead.Makunmbe The biggest challenge as you asked me earlier on, is how I relate to others. When they look at a young farmer in Zambia, it is sort of a downgrade of people that have been left that don't have anything to do. That is what as the Young Farmers Club we are trying to cast out and bring something else. And in relation to others that have got a white collar job, the temptation is always there because they are always getting their salaries at the end of the month, they don't have any problems with inputs.Come rain, come no rain, for them it's alright.So do you consider farming a career, and what would you want to say to young people out there who might still believe that farming cannot be taken upon as a career?Makunmbe I consider farming as a career, and as a way of life. And I would like to encourage all the young farmers out there to take upon farming as a career and as a way of life, because if we look at life generally, whether we take a white collar job or not, at the end of the day, anyone of us retires to take a small farming life. So I would like to encourage most of my age folk to take up farming, so that even at the time of retirement they are well set, and everything is going on, and that will build up a foundation for all those that will come behind us, and behind those that will come behind us. End of tapeYoung People and Agriculture 20It is said that we never forget a good teacher. The young people in our next report will surely never forget the work of their agricultural extension officer. Through him they have joined together to form a common initiative group, and begun to practice modern, and highly profitable farming. The report comes from Cameroon, where Martha Chindong spoke to the young president of the group about what they have learned, and how it is helping them to earn a living from agriculture.… the two at the same time.3'23\"Makoge Massango talking to Martha Chindong about the benefits he and his Dynamic Agricultural Group are getting from modern agriculture.I'm Makoge Raymond Massango, President of Dynamic Agricultural Group, Ngap in Ninong.Why that name 'dynamic'?We think that in fact it is really dynamic, because we have diversified cropping, and we feel that it is a pushing force for alleviating poverty.What type of crops are you growing that you've gone to the extent of diversifying them?We are growing Irish potato. We also grow beans, then we grow also tomatoes.In large quantities?Yes, all these we grow them in large quantities. I think tomato has the largest quantity. No, Irish potato has the largest quantity, and we can be proud of producing at least a ton. The chief of posts for agriculture, Ngap, Mr. Stephen Asabate, had been meeting with us so many times, and then introduced this to us. When we tried it we discovered that it was so profitable, and we decided to call people together, so that we could form that type of a group, because one person cannot produce up to that large quantity.Your group is made of how many members?For now we have ten members; six women and four men. The extension worker is working with us on Wednesdays, so we decided that it is on Wednesday that we shall be having work in our gardens, and around the fishponds. So when he comes there, he demonstrates, and then we see exactly what we have to do, like planting distances.You know when we started we never knew how to plant them at intervals, but now we can do it.Has he also taught you how to use, say, organic manure in cultivation?Exactly, and now we have a compost manure now, at the centre of our garden, which we are intending to use when rain will start falling.In other words, you are practising modern agriculture?Exactly.Now how profitable is this to you? Do you think you are really gaining a livelihood out of agriculture?In fact we think we have found a right place now, because after the production, we sold some of the things and we discovered that we could make a lot of money. And so we are very much interested now, until we want to look for another land, where we can extend.Now I want you to tell them specifically what you have gained, like knowledge, by doing modern agriculture.By this time I am proud to say that I can even go and cultivate in a land where people feel that it is barren, because I have gained the knowledge of making a compost manure, and even when the crops are not giving good yields, I know what to apply, and I know what to apply when they have been affected by something like blight.Any message for those young people like you elsewhere, who are not interested in agriculture; they think agriculture is old fashioned?Yes the message I have for them is that they should try to create common initiative groups, because when they do it individually they do it in the small scale, and they do RRRP 2002/1 Young People and Agriculture 22 not find any profit in it, so in the long run you find them giving up. So if they can come together they will really see that they can produce a large quantity, and that is the time that they can make some money out of it, like any other person in the white collar job.It means if somebody should show you a white collar job now, you will say 'No, I will stay in agriculture'.Well it depends on the type of white collar job, but even if I am doing it I think I will do the two at the same time. End of tape.RRRP 2002/1 Young People and Agriculture 23A brighter future for Kenya's young school leaversEvery year thousands of children in Kenya are forced to leave school because their parents can no longer afford to send them. Some of these even pass their primary school exams, but never have the chance to study further. For the lucky few, the Agricultural Youth Centre at Limuru, 25km north of Nairobi, offers the chance of a bright future. Students are selected from each of Kenya's eight districts, and study at the centre for two years. They can learn crop and animal production, including cattle, pigs, rabbits and chickens.Eric Kadenge met Henry Kereni, the Principal of the centre, and two former students who are now earning a living from agriculture. His report begins with Mr. Kereni explaining the importance of agriculture for the centre's young students.\"Agriculture is still the … OUT:… soil for a better future.4'09\"Elizabeth Joroge ending that report by Eric Kadenge on the Limuru Agricultural Youth Centre, in Kenya.Agriculture is still the backbone of our economy, it is still the sector that employs more than 70% of our people. Most of these people, since they are people who have not been able to get a chance to proceed with further education, skills relating to farming will make them more productive, they will engage themselves in the future, because as you know jobs are very difficult to come across.Where do you get your students from?We admit from the whole of Kenya, six students per province.And what are the requirements for admission into the centre?The students must have finished primary school education, with grades to enable them to proceed to high school, but because of the poverty that is so much prevalent in our country, they are unable to proceed to high school.RRRP 2002/1 Young People and Agriculture 24Our training is free; it is fully sponsored.And what are some of the activities that these students have got involved in once they get through their training?Kereni Some of the students do get employed in various farms. Others, those who are not fortunate enough to find wage employment, they engage in self-employment by starting various income-generating activities in the farm, such as poultry, vegetable growing, dairy, piggery and the like.We are now driving on our way to the farms where we shall actually be talking to some of the beneficiaries of the Limuru Agricultural Youth Centre. Ok so you'll start by telling us your name.I'm Benino Anjiro, I'm an agriculturist.What are these plants that we have in this nursery? Anjiro This is spinach.Beetroot, cabbages, cornflowers, and also strawberries.And where do you sell these crops once you harvest them? Anjiro I do sell them in Nairobi. Strawberries we take them to Ramesh, while this spinach, we take it to the markets.How would you say the centre has helped you?The centre has helped me because it has given me these techniques which I'm now using.My name is Elizabeth Njoki Joroge.And before you joined the centre what were you doing?Joroge I usually at home; finished standard 8, and then I joined Limuru Boys.Why didn't you join Form 1?Because of financial problem, like my father was working at Mombasa, so the job was not so much good. He was getting very little money. So he didn't make it.Early school-leavers get practical trainingChildren who are forced to leave school early because of poverty, may find they have few opportunities to learn a trade and build a strong future. But for some such children in The Gambia, a government scheme is offering a way forward out of poverty. The National Youth Service Scheme draws about 100 young people a year from across the country, the candidates being selected by interview at a regional level. The trainees are fully funded throughout their period of training, and are able to choose which type of work they wish to learn. Agriculture is a popular choice, as Ismaila Senghore discovered when he spoke to the Head of Administration of the scheme, Mr. Sheriff Gomez.\"We have a large farm … OUT:… people back to the land.3'20\"Mr. Sheriff Gomez on how The Gambia's National Youth Service Scheme is alleviating poverty by equipping young people with practical skills.We have a large farm, 30 hectare farm at Niani Beteh, which the National Youth Service Scheme targets to attract people to engage in all the facets of agricultural training: animal husbandry is one of them, horticulture, cash crop production, poultry, orchard production, bee-keeping, whatever it takes. Because we believe these things will have a market, we believe these things will become sustainable wherever they are grown, because there is a large demand in the country for agricultural production.Now what is the cycle of training, how many years?The national youth service scheme is mandated to train young people for two years, and that starts with an orientation at the camp, where we bring all of them who are trained together, put them in a camp, train them together for six weeks orientation, where they can chose the fields that they want to train in by themselves, and then we find now the institutions, relevant institutions, and quality institutions that can train them. And we train them free; the institution bears this cost for the young persons, and we train them on that regard, and then distribute them out. So far since inception in 1996 we have recorded 600 core members so far. We are in the sixth batch which marks our 618 core members under training now. Young People and AgricultureAcross Africa there are many non-government organisations that are targeting young people, and helping them to start income-generating projects, rather than moving to towns in search of work.One such example is CADECT, an NGO working with women and youth in northern Tanzania.Lazarus Laiser went to Arusha to meet the co-ordinator of the organisation, and some of the young people who have benefited from its work, who are now earning a living through agriculture. He also spoke to the agricultural extension officer for Arusha district, about the problems facing young people, and what solutions could be found to help them.\"The poor performance of the agricultural … OUT:… villages now is not there. DUR'N 5'02\"Mrs Sakina Ghale closing that report on some work being done to encourage young people in Tanzania to make a living in the rural areas.The poor performance of the agricultural sector has increased the number of rural people in Arusha living in a poverty condition. Noting the above statement, CADECT, was established in February 2000 to assist and promote development activities, by providing education and practical knowledge at the grassroots level. I met with Mrs Subira Mawenya, the project co-ordinator of CADECT. She started by telling the meaning of CADECT.CADECT is an abbreviation for Community Action for Development Economic and Environmental Conservation Trust.What are your objectives in your project?CADECT objectives are, first to create awareness in the community with emphasis on youth and women, in environmental conservation and all necessity development issues. Second is to promote human rights and gender awareness. Also the objective is to promote women and youth income generating projects, and to provide necessary skills and knowledge to youth and women groups.RRRP 2002/1 Young People and Agriculture 29All countries need to find ways to encourage able and motivated young people to stay in rural areas, and if possible to stay working in agriculture. How are you helping youth to stay working in agriculture?We promote the agricultural issues by educating them how to start their own projects, there at the village level, instead of going in town.In the study tour arranged and conducted by CADECT I met with young farmers who benefited a lot from agricultural activities. The first one is Mr Thobias Saitabau who is living in Ngorbob village Arusha.[Vernac] Sincerely speaking, this means earns me a high income. The live example is that yesterday I sold tree seeds and flowers for forty thousands. I can also sell one Toyota pick up of grass for sixteen thousands. As you can see these bricks I made all to build a modern house. Not only that but right now as I speak, I have many bags of maize in the store. So I have no need of going to look for employment in town and I am afraid I won't find employment that can pay me the same way as my own self employment in agriculture.[Vernac] Mr Julius Mollel is saying, 'Through agriculture I have bought my solar energy which I am now using free of charge. Before here I was buying kerosene for three thousands per month. By this same agriculture I have taken a form ready to send my son to study in English medium school which is actually so expensive'.Laiser Mrs Sakina Ghale is the Arumeru district agriculture extension officer here in Arusha, Tanzania. She is also a board member of CADECT. When I met her, she gave her comments about the youth in agriculture.Most of the youth in the rural areas used to run away after their primary school education. They just feel it is not good to stay there in the rural area, and they just go to town and find the employment.There is a perception that agriculture is old-fashioned so you will not get benefit from it, because even our parents have been getting nothing from it. How will you change that perception?If the agricultural is being used in a new technologies, or if they change their methods using the scientific results from the research centres, then they will come up with the good results. Something else that I want to comment, for example today we brought about twenty youth from two villages in Arusha and Arumeru districts. We just took them to the farmers whom have just used their resources to improve their lives. And most of the youth who have come together, have learned a lot in this place where we brought them, and most of them they promised us that they are going to do RRRP 2002/1 Young People and Agriculture 30 the same in their places where they come from. And the idea of running away from their villages now is not there. End of tape."}

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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"4860f8e88cb27a417346d7fd29ccbbb2","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/50d54c5d-1f07-46d1-ad18-eed3c9178a2f/retrieve","id":"1305510084"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"fbc03b0b-3ed2-4bfc-bae3-07d43eb53b88","content":"l.~owu ¡ ,.~.\"~' . ~ . 6'S73 c• sur•1HARY COlECClON HISTORIO ~EED UNIT -ACHIEVEMENTS ANO EXPECiAfHJliS The Seed Unit was started at CIAT with support from the Swiss Development Cooperation in January 1979. A combination of intensive seed producti on and techno 1 ogy courses. advanced courses. in-servi ce training. M.S. thesis programs and in-country training have furthered the training of 424 people. Four workshops at CIAT and two in Central America in collaboration with !ICA have met specific objectives to further seed improvement in the region. Technical collaboration has provided the means to fol low-up on former trainees, to assist nationa1 seed programs in clarifying goa15 and strategie5. to collaborate with seed associations and to relate to other bilateral and international efforts. In cooperation with the Station Operations Unit and the Bean, Rice and Tropical Pasture programs, the Seed Unit has sold 138 tons Of basic seed of 27 different cultivars to various organizations in the regl0n. Through thesis candidates four research projects have been undertaken in cooperation with the commodity programs and collaborating unlversities. Four visiting scientists have contributed to development work by adapting existing temperate technology for applicatíon to the seed problems of the region. The Unit has prepared publications and audiotutorial units designed to instruct and inform people in seed activities of ongoing research and new methodologies.region and the contributions to international research by developed countries and funding agencies have greatly increased during the last 15 years. As a consequence, a large number of new, improved varieties have been developed and released. Nevertheless, the actual increases in food production have not been concomitant with the magnitude of these research efforts. One important reason for this was that the seed supply was inadequate and varieties were not used. Several weaknesses in the seed sector were identified at that tirne.Upon the initiation uf the Seed Unit a more systematic effort was made to develop country profiles or status reports. Sorne of the mafn constraints identified through an analysis of these reports of the country seed programs 1 include: a. The greatest deficiency uncovered in most country stud1es was a lack of clear and consistent policies tor seed program developrnent.Country situation profiles prepared for this analysis illustrated that 15 of the 22 Latín America and Caribbean countries studied do not have available a clearly deffned set of seed policies. c. Seed quality control programs were found to be very weak in the majority of the countries. A1though most ot the countries have sOnle kind of legislation on paper, implernentation of qual;ty control programs was found to be poor. These condítions have often resulted in seed of quest;onable quality being supplied to farmers and a loss ot confidence in the materials available from botn the private and pub li c sectors. d. Llmited breeder and bas;c seed supplies for further mu1tiplication by local seed enterprises were found to be an additional major limiting factor. In many instances improved cultivars have been released by national programs with no accompanying basic seed available for subsequent multiplication. e. Seed drying, conditioning, and storage was a1so found to be inadequate in most of the countries in the region.f. Marketing systems. particularly for farrners with small holdings, were found to be weak and limited.To help overcorne these weakness the Seed Unit concentrated on training, workshops, technical collaboration, seed production and supply, communication, research, and facility and staff development.Sorne of tne achievernents of the Unit are outlined.The first priority of the Seed Unit has been to ;ncrease the number and competence of índivíduals capable of helping to accelerate national seed program development. A combínation of intensive seed production and techno 1 ogy courses (7 -9 weeks). advanced short-courses (4-week duration), in-service training, M.S. thes;s programs, and in-country training have been used to achieve this objective. Table 1 ShOW5 the number of participants in each category (thl\"ough mid 1983). Four workshops were held at CIAT, and two regional workshops in Central America ~Iere co-sponsored. The workshops held at CIAT and partieipation ar~ given in Table 2.  Training plans for the region are being developed. Ihe Seed Unit will also eollaborate with the Andean Pact countries in October, 1983 on a sub-regional workshop on ways to implement Andean proposals on the increased production and sale of seed within the area.Teehnical collaboration has p'rovided the means to follow up on tormer trainees, to assist national seed programs in elarifying goals and strategies, to collaborate with seed associations, and to relate to other bilateral and international efforts. Visits ha ve be en made to practically every country in the region. The enthusiasm and interest of tormer trainees has remained with those visiteó, and many of them are becoming visibly more effective in contributing to program goals. As referred to earlier, information on the status of seed programs in each country in the region has be en ga1:hered and organized into \"Country Profiles\". These situation reporl:s are used in conjunction with visits to help identify future needs and assess progress.The Seed Unit has given CIAT and the region extra capabil ity for the production, drying, conditioning, and supply of baslc seed of promising material and released varieties. Thus, in cooperation with Station Operations and the Bean, Rice, and Tropical Pastures Programs, the Seed Unit has sold 138 ton s of seed of 27 different cultivars to various organizations in the region. Basic seed of beans (Phaseolus vulgaris), rice (Oryza sativa) and selected tropical pasture species (Andropogon gayanus, ~tylosanthes capitata, and Stylosanthes guianensis) has been sent to 13 countries in Latin America and the Caribbean during the past two years. I he seed production activity is being handlect with the objective of making this aspect totally self-supporting. These seed supplies ha ve made possible a more rapid increase of new lines and have helped to support national efforts to multiply established varieties.It is this kind of collaborative effort between a regional center and natlonal programs that helps assure the introduction and use of new  1983). Support was planned for four in-country courses, but seVen ha ve been assisted. Three workshops were planned and five will have been held including the July 1983 workshop. Table 1 surnmarízes the number of participants involved in courses and workshops and shows the project already has exceeded the planned 402 people. These extra achievements were possible because ot support receíved from other sources for several participants and through modifications within the planned budget. Fewer postgraduate interns could be accommodated than planned and plans for postdoctoral fellows had to be reduced because of the unavailability of candidates.The enthusiasm and level of interest of former trainees has continued strong and many trainees are finding that it 15 indeed possible to achieve their program goals.The work started with a few universities exceeds the plans outl ined in the project.Increasingly, national seed program leaders are focusing on developing and implementing coherent national seed programs.Interaction has grown especially in the Central America, Caribbean and Andean region for collaborating with the Seed Unit 1n joint activities.The formation of new seed associations indicates a growing desire to work with others within countries and amon9 countries.The workshops and training courses have brought seed technologists and seedsmen together to start the process of greater horizontal transfer of information and cooperation.The pl'oj€'ct had as an objective to \"cooperate with cornmodity programs in the multiplication, drying processing, storage and distribution of seeds of selected cultivars or species when requirements exceed the amount needed for experimental I:rials\". The 138 tons ot seed of 21 varieties and species distributed attests to the achievement of this project objective.The The project called for 800 m 2 of space to be buílt. By remodeling existing CIAT buildings along with new construction it was possible to develop 1,164 m 2 of quite functional space. By utilizing equipment at CIAT and through grants and discounts from equipment suppliers the essential equipment proposed in the project was obtained even with unanticipated inflation which raised costs aboye estimates.Support from Additional Sources Support to the project from sources beyond the SCD grant have In-country courses are needed tor meeting specific country needs and for reaching larger numbers of people tor shorter periods of time.For example, eourses for seed conditíoning plant operators, seed cert,tication fie1d inspectors, seed sel1ers, seea production advanced, speeialized courses. Greater stress wi 1I be plaeed on in-service training.With the number of people now trained it is expected that more sub-regional and in-country training can be achieved. With a view to the long-term a growing emphasis will be p1aced on the developmcnt and improvement of seed education and research technology at a few selected universities.A1though countries differ considerab1y in their overall stage of development ln the seed sector. it is clear that equally great differenees exi st withi n parts of countri es. among crops and for aifferent elements of the seed programo Thus, tne emphasis at the country level must be geared to ea eh country's greatest needs. The major points of focus will be:1. Clarifying national seed program goa1s and strategies to meet the 90a15.2. Improving the capability for breeder and basic seed produetion and the continued availability of this seed.3. Increasin9 the production and supply (lf good seed of improved varieties at the commereial level. the Seed Unit staft also expects to be of greater service to national programs as they evolve these plans.Opportunities now exist to conduct a series of short courses on a sub-regional basis. In Central America the Regional ConsultativeCommission for Seed and the Regional Technical Committee provide strategy, the Seed Unit staff also expects to be of greater service to national programs as they evolve these plans.Opportunities now exist to conduct a series of short courses on a sub-regional basis. In Central America the Regional ConsultativeCommision for Seed and the Regional Technical Committee provide The emphasis in technical collaboration is at the country level.However, as previously stressed opportunities exist at the sub-regional level and with other international and bilateral agencies.Country Level Collaboration.The difficulty in many countries ís the lack of good cooperation among the many publ;c and prívate sector organizations that must work together ir the seed progrilm is to advance rapidly. The 5taff of the Seed Unít can only work as a catalyst to help achieve this objectíve.Through contacts with former trainees in many organizations it is expected that ultimately the former Seed Unit \"alumni\" will be able to 5tart to achieve a degree of cooperation not possible previously in many programs. This network of people wíthin countries will be encouraged through visits and their continued contact with the Seed Unít. National and regional seed technology associations can assist this process and the building of a regional network. The Unit will work with and encourage such groups. The points of emphasis mentioned previously will be on national seed program goa15 and strategies, breeder and basic seed production, local 5eed production and supply, quality control systems, and improved seed for small farmers.The past 41 years have clearly shown c. strong desire throughout the region to accelerate the improvement of seed programs and industries.As pointed out earlier, the country profiles show sorne countries with greater needs than others. These countri,~s can be grouped into the Central America and Caribbean area and the countries of the Andean Pact.To more rapidly achieve the objectives out'ined at the country level and to help these countries develop the interrelationships sought at the sub-regional level, an increased concentration of technical assistance and leadership is required. The existing Seed Unit with two senior scientists cannot provide the manpower needed to accomplish all that is presently expected of the Unít.The strides being rnade in bean research, the developing interest and research in upland rice, the possibi1ities for pasture improvernent, the need to spread irnproved cassava germp1asm and advances with the conmodities of sister internationa1 centers working in the region are exciting. But the seed production and distribution capability in most ot the eountries in these two regions are far from adequate to hand1e this growinQ stream of new germplasm. Now is the time to make a major effort to 1ift the seed programs in these two regions from their present level to a stage that they are able to move seed of improved varieties to farrners on a regular basis.An outreach persan in each region is needed to relate closely not on1y with the in-country and sub-regional leadership in seed aetivities, but al so with the research spec; a li sts in nat iona 1 programs and the international centers working in the area. In addition the sub-regional seed specialists would provide sorne of the needed technieal and advisory he1p to international and bilateral donors developíng and implernenting seed projects in the area.Other specific responsibilities with respeet to seed program developrnent eould inelude:1. Help countries clarify their goa15 and strategies to rneet thern.2. In cooperation with the countries in the region, assist in organizing and conducting in-country training courses and workshops.3. Through work with sub-regional committees and groups to organize and conduct sub-regional courses and workshops.4. Assist countries in the strengthening uf their breeder and basic seed product ion programs especi a 11y fOl' beans. ri ce. pasture, ma ize and sorghum. 1 5. Assist in the formation and strengthen'ing of seed production and marketing groups within countries for beans, rice, pastures. maize and sorghum, especially with and for 5mal Jer farmers. 1 6. Help develop more effective quality control systems within countries that are compatible with other programs in the region.It is proposed that these assignments would be for on1y three years since the need for regional outreach personnel wi11 reduce as more and more locally trained people become avai1ab'le.Of sister international centers operating in toe region have material for use ln toe region and the Unit can playa useful role, these seed will a150 be considered.In collaboration with toe commodity programs consideration will be given to offering a breeder and basic seed grow-out/post control service to countries that are interested as a way to monitor the genetic purity and authenticity of material. Work will ,:ontinue with toe programs in the purification, maintenance and description of varieties.Increased attention wi 11 be given to developing a capacity for basic seed production off the Palmira Station since it 1s clear that several of the pasture leg~~ species and sorne bean varieties cannot be multiplied successfully at that location. Ihis step will require some increased supervisory capacity and mobilíty.The Complementary audio tutorials and laboratory material will also be developed for those modules as the basic text ;s completed. As work wfth sma 11 farmers deve 1 ops and more fnformation i s accumulated, guidelines are to be prepared on \"helping the small farmer save his own seed\" and on \"ways to in1tiate more systematic seed production and supply activities with ano for small fa rmers \" .The goal by the end of the decade when the major development work of the Seed Unit 1s expected to be reduced, lS to have all countr1es in the region with clearly identifiable and functionfng seed programs and industries. With the sub-regional eoncentratíon combined with the eore Seed Unit activities every country in the region should move up on the country profile rating, but the countries in the two sub-regions should advance the mosto As these changes occur, 1t is expected that more germplasm originating from CIAT and other international and national research will be found on farmers' fields. The emphasis on mechanisms to move the new germplasm to smal1 farmers should start the establishment of systems within the smal1 farming community and through established seed enterprlses to help the smal1 farmer obtain good seed of better varieties easier."}

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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"5ca308d8b677532eefa4b5b06780226d","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/8d15c74e-fd1f-4bd3-ac55-d915b1ac7358/retrieve","id":"752071481"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"6254dd72-75b2-4b1a-a21c-cd5f4f025a95","content":"1. Generally, little attention is given to the role of natural resources in economic development. This is particularly serious for developing countries (DCs) , which depend on natural resources. Natural resources are commonly subdivided into renewable and non-renewable resources.Minerals are examples of non-renewable resources that are of strategic importance to many DCs; their revenues are a one-time benefit to society.Renewable resources concern wildlife species, over a long period but this is subject to proper management. Research and policy have so far made limited progress with respect to the integration of the environment into development planning (see e.g., Dasmann et al., 1973;Sandford, 1983) .The concept of sustainable developmentas used by the World Commission on Environment and Development (WCED, 1987) -has had a catalytic impact in focusing policy and research attention on the interdependence of development and environment: natural resources should be considered as an economic production factor.2. This perspective contrasts with most traditional development theories which usually neglect the role of natural resources. However, one school of thought, represented by e.g., Boserup (1965;1990) and Wilkinson (1973) focuses on the role of natural resources in development. In this view, land pressure (in the case of Boserup) and general imbalances between natural resources and human activities (Wilkinson) lead to four types of adaptations in human activities: * adjustment of population numbers by means of migration and/or fertility changes; * expansion of the natural resource base by territorial conquests and/or trade;Both authors assume that such adaptations -spontaneous or induced by government -will lead to a new equilibrium, although they do not indicate how much time is required for that.Boserup's and Wilkinson's theories may have been applicable to relatively closed societies in the past.^Present-day conditions are, however, quite different, casting doubts on the validity of the dominance of stabilising forces. We mention five potential sources of lasting natural resource imbalances. The first concerns the role of national governments in boosting development. Traditionally, few governments world-wide have taken the environment sufficiently into account (so-called government imperfections; see e.g., World Bank, 1987;Bojo et al., 1988) let alone specific rural environmental conditions. A bias towards short-term production increases is common in government programmes in order to rapidly meet basic needs. Recently, mounting environmental problems have increased environmental awareness among governments.The second factor is the increasing influence of national and international factors on rural activities (e.g., the urban areas and international markets) . These factors do not consider the rural natural resource base. Thirdly, socio economic stratification is increasing, resulting in distinct economic groups or strata with different goals, socio economic and ecological constraints and strategies. Consequently, it is likely that societal responses are heterogenous with an uncertain net impact on the resource base.Fourthly, commercialisation implies an enhanced role of the market mechanism. Although the latter is an efficient and flexible allocation mechanism, it has significant environmental shortcomings (so-called market Imperfections) . Examples are that the market fails to take into account external effects (including environmental ones) ; it does not apply to all natural resources (e.g., grass is often \"free\"); and it is based on imperfect knowledge of ecosystems. Finally, labour and capital constraints may be perceived by natural resource users as more urgent than environmental ones, hence their possible larger impact on human activities; this argument particularly applies to the short term.Having cast doubts about a renewed natural resource eguilibrium, this paper addresses itself to the following issues: i. assessment of the effect (balance or imbalance) of the present relationships between the natural resource base and human activities;ii. examination of the role of some potentially de stabilis ing forces, i.e. international markets, government programmes and socio-economic stratification; and iii. review of government's role in terms of its contributions to prudent natural resource management and options for the promotion of sustainable rural development.7. In examining these issues, we use empirical 1987 survey data from two rural areas in Botswana. The international literature suggests that our findings have wider applicability.^In this context, the paper first summarises government policies towards natural resources, rangelands and the relevant economic sectors.It then introduces the study regions and compares regional developments in land use.The analysis of household strategies as a response to land pressure addresses the main aspects in general, and specifically as they relate to livestock production. The main findings in terms of the three issues spelled out in paragraph 6 above are summarised in the concluding remarks. Natural resource management 9. Assisted by the diamond boom and the related rapid increase in government revenues, the Government of Botswana has been able to develop various support programmes for sectors such as livestock, arable production and non-agricultural production. Until recently, the country did not have a comprehensive environmental policy.In December 1990, Parliament passed the new National Conservation Strategy. Its content was, however, unknown when this paper was being prepared.^Prior to the establishment of this policy, there were, however, a number of regulations to improve natural resource management. Economic instruments are rarely used for the purpose, and where they are used, instruments such as subsidies, prices and taxes are in most cases geared toward encouraging short-term production increases.Such a short term timeframe has potential negative environmental effects.Recently, policy changes have been proposed, including targeting of subsidies (e.g., to specific areas or groups) and more attention to potential environmental impacts of subsidies (MoA, 1990) . Pending the implementation of the new environmental policy, one should be alert to the prevailing weaknesses in the management of natural resources, to the potential neglect of cross-sectoral effects, as well as to the inadeguate coordination between sectors and the pursuit of ad-hoc solutions to environmental problems. 10. Land-use planning at district level is being strengthened at a rapid pace, and opportunities to control land use are improving substantially. However, water-use planning still appears primarily aimed at meeting demand, and is in effect rarely used to control societal activities (with the exception of the borehole-spacing policy discussed below) . Until recently, the government has been hesitant to design policies for specific regions or population groups. Consequently, some programmes do not address essential regional issues or issues relevant to specific strata (e.g., arable support programmes in Western Botswana) .Instruments for ranqeland management 11. Most instruments used to promote proper rangeland management are of a regulatory nature. Two laws guide access to and management of rangelands. First, the Tribal Land Act of 1970 regulates the allocation and management of tribal land. The Act gave substantial powers to district Land Boards (LBs) , which may allocate land, cancel land rights and impose restrictions on land use. In addition, they may grant rights to groundwater (mostly boreholes) which is vital for cattle during the dry season. The LBs continued to apply the traditional rule that boreholes be 8 km. apart. This rule has been useful in limiting the extent of overgrazing; however, it has not proved adequate in preventing overgrazing from occurring because the number of livestock remains uncontrolled and the rule does not incorporate regional differences and inter-annual variations in carrying capacity. Further, the Tribal Land Act does not either restrict or regulate the movement from freehold and leasehold land into communal land (so-called dual grazing rights) .12. Second, the Agricultural Resources Conservation Act of 1974 provides some opportunities for the rehabilitation of degraded rangelands by means of stock control and conservation orders.The act also creates opportunities to control the harvesting of scarce natural resources (e.g., thatching grass and certain wood species) by issuing licenses at a fee. The Agricultural Resources Board (ARB) is responsible for its implementation, but this body has so far not issued any such orders; instead persuasion and education are emphasised, but (for the time being?) without clear successes.13. The livestock sector attracts substantial government subsidies, and benefits from the high-priced EEC market in which Botswana has been allocated a beef export quota are directly passed on to cattle sellers; both factors add to the perceived comparative ecological advantage of the livestock sector (see Presidential Committee on Economic Opportunities, 1982;Fidzani, 1985).An effective veterinary service and good marketing facilities have contributed to the rapid expansion of this sector. During the 1980s, the slaughtering capacity for beef export purposes has expanded substantially with two additional Botswana Meat Commission (BMC) abattoirs in the north, making it more attractive to northern farmers to sell cattle to the BMC. 14. Because of government subsidies livestock holders do not pay the direct users' costs. Moreover, the livestock holders and sector are not charged for the external environmental costs such as rangeland degradation and costs inflicted on other economic sectors (Perrings et al., 1988).During the 1980s, crop and small stock prices have been raised substantially, but the impact on investors' behaviour cannot yet be established due to the serious drought during 1981 to 1987.(TGLP) appeared with the dual aim of preserving rangelands and simultaneously increasing livestock production. TGLP's main components comprised a comprehensive land-use planning exercise, and the designation of tribal land for commercial (leasehold) ranching. TGLP also included additional elements for boosting commercial production on the ranches as well as livestock production in the communal areas. The latter was to be achieved by a reduction in stocking rates following the movement of large herds from the communal to the leasehold areas (Government of Botswana, 1975) .16. TGLP has been plagued by numerous problems, and it is generally considered unsuccessful in meeting its original objectives (for more details see Sandford, 1980;Bekure and Dyson-Hudson, 1982;CARG, 1984). For example, stocking rates did not drop in communal areas. The opposite most likely occurred because people had to move herds from the leasehold to the communal areas, and ranchers probably used their exclusive land rights only to increase their herds. Moreover, there is no evidence that livestock production increased.Assistance to livestock production in the communal areas has been limited.Trials with a top-down approach of community-based rotational grazing failed because, among other things, communities were unwilling to set aside part of \"their\" grazing land for exclusive use by a few community members (Sweet, 1987). Presently, bottom-up experiments are being carried out to establish alternative grazing management schemes. 17. In line with the deep-rooted, but yet unproven, conviction that fencing is necessary to boost livestock investments and better management, fencing of communal grazing land by individuals or communities has recently been proposed (MoA, 1990) ; we do not know whether this proposal has been translated into definitive government policy.Policies towards other rural sectors 18. Presently, crop production and non-agricultural activities are the main alternatives to livestock production. Nonagricultural activities may comprise a wide range of activities such as beer brewing, construction work, firewood sales and formal employment in the public and private sector. Formal employment opportunities are concentrated in urban areas, hence many rural households have some members in urban areas. The terms of trade for crop production developed negatively until 1979 (as compared to livestock production) . Stagnation of the arable sector has led to government schemes to increase crop production, mostly by means of subsidies for investments and recurrent costs. Most of these programmes did not take the natural resource base into account, and there is no conclusive evidence that yields per hectare have increased.19. Since 1980 the Financial Assistance Policy (FAP) offered substantial subsidies for productive activities other than livestock production; arable activities were only eligible for FAP support if they were not covered under other government assistance programmes. FAP's major objective is to reduce the country's economic dependence on the mineral and livestock sectors.The non-agricultural sector grows rapidly, but remains subject to serious constraints such as the competition from South Africa and the small domestic market. The growth of this sector has been unable to alleviate mounting pressure on natural resources in the rural sector.20. Survey data were collected from two well-defined areas.The first study area is called Kgatleng, a district located immediately north of the capital Gaborone while the second study area is Palapye, which is part of Central District and is located in north-eastern Botswana (Map 1) . The areas are of similar size (around 7,500 km ) and stocking rates exceed the estimated potential carrying capacity (PCC).4-' The present stocking rate expressed as a ratio of the PCC is 1.56 in Kgatleng and even higher in Palapye at 2.5. Although both regions are semi-arid, in comparison to Palapye region, Kgatleng has more productive soils, more rainfall and better groundwater prospects.Opinions of local farmers in both regions confirmed the poor state of the rangelands.Whilst in the past they had considered water as the major constraint to livestock development, lack of grass has now become the major bottleneck.21. In terms of population and the related pressure on natural resources, the picture varies. Kgatleng has a higher population density (5.6 persons/km compared to 1.7 in Palapye region) and a higher arable density, but Palapye region holds more livestock. The socio-economic stratification of both regions is fairly similar. Less than 20% of the households belong to the upper stratum (that is, households owning more than 40 heads of cattle) , the remainder being almost equally divided between the middle (up to 40 cattle) and lower (no cattle at all) strata. In Palapye region, there are slightly more households without cattle (44% against 38% in Kgatleng) .22. There is an institutional difference between the two regions with important implications for access to natural resources, including rangelands.Traditionally, access to these resources has been confined to one's district.Although nowadays applications can be made for land or water rights outside one's district, this is in practice difficult and still rare. Kgatleng is a district and has its own administrative-institutional structure. In contrast, the Palapye region is a sub-unit of Central District, administered by district institutions some 7 0 km away. The implication of this institutional difference is that Kgatleng 's rangelands can almost exclusively be used by its inhabitants; Palapye region's rangelands can be utilised by people from outside the area as indeed happens.It is estimated that as much as 80% of the livestock in Palapye region are owned by households from elsewhere in Central District.Land use patterns 23. The two regions manifest different land use patterns. In Kgatleng, people and crop production are concentrated in the south.Around 25% of the district's land area is under mixed farming where also 90% of the people and arable land (annual cultivation between 15,000 and 20,000 ha.), and some 30% of the livestock are found (Opschoor, 1981) . In contrast, Palapye region is a \"cattlepost area\"; mixed-farming areas constitute approximately 7.5% of the surface, mainly around the villages; some 10,000 ha. of land is annually cultivated. There are few villages and the percentage of residential land is lower than in Kgatleng. Below, we discuss in more detail some frequently applied adjustments to increasing land pressure.Adaptation to land pressure 24. As a first response, agriculture usually encroaches into land previously left to hunter-gatherers and/or wildlife. Since both regions are presently almost fully occupied by either livestock or crops, adjustment through such an encroachment process has virtually stopped. This is reflected in the current inability of the Land Boards in both regions to allocate new boreholes.25. Expansion of rangelands for livestock in the past has generally been most beneficial to the upper stratum because of the relatively high investments and operational costs associated with expansion. Despite this, we found a significant regional difference in the overall access to rangelands. In Kgatleng, the borehole technology has been a socio-economically discriminating requirement for expansion of grazing areas; the average herd size of members of borehole groups is three times the district's average (88 and 27.5 respectively (Peters, 1983). In Palapye region, rangelands are more easily accessible mainly because of the cheaper and the more eguitable ownership of wells. As a result, the average herd size of well owners is 28.5 which is the same as the district average (see Table 4).A second type of adjustment has been the conversion of rangelands into arable land. This process usually starts around the village, and gradually spreads further away; population density influences the distance of arable fields from villages. Given the higher population density of Kgatleng, it is not surprising to find that the average distance to arable fields in Kgatleng is twice that in the Palapye region (12.2 km and 6.4 km respectively). The upper stratum can afford to cultivate distant fields whilst the lower stratum often retain old fields near the villages (as we found around Kgatleng's capital Mochudi) .owners frequently put the blame for overstocking on arable encroachment. The aerial-photo analysis over the period 1950-1982 showed that arable encroachment does occur, but it is at most a secondary cause for overstocking. In Kgatleng rangeland losses due to arable encroachment between 1963 and 1982, were estimated at about 2.5% of the total range land area. Continuation of this trend would mean that all rangelands would be converted into mixed farming areas in 3 5 to 45 years. However, the vested interests of borehole owners and the strengthened implementation of land-use planning are likely to prevent this from happening.28. The third response to land pressure has been to engage in mixed farming, especially among small-herd owners, where crop and livestock production are spatially combined throughout the year. These areas are usually located between settlements and the more remote rangelands. Mixed farming has resulted from two (push and pull) factors which are closely related to land pressure. The major push factor has been the loss of access to both groundwater and surrounding rangeland grazing. With increased pressure on the rangelands, purchasing of water became more difficult, and membership rates of syndicates have become prohibitive for small-herd owners. 5/ a major pull factor has been the need to economise on labour. Other benefits include the proximity of draught power and milk.29. Farmers consider mixed farming a necessity, but are fully aware of serious disadvantages. First, mixed farming exposes farmers to frequent crop damage by cattle. Approximately twothirds of the farmers experienced such damage in Palapye.F encing significantly reduces the frequency of crop damage. As shown in Table 1, the higher the frequency of crop field fencing the lower the frequency of crop damage.Further, since stratification and fencing are positively correlated, there is an inverse relationship between strata and crop damage: crop damage affects the lower and middle strata most seriously. Sixty percent of the fanners with an opinion predicted a shortage of rangelands. This permission may diminish when arable encroachment will be restricted through better (enforced) land-use planning. Sources of household income 32. Rural households can be seen as multi-sector, multi-resource production units. For a proper analysis of livestock management, we first have to understand the overall household situation and strategies. The majority of households in both regions derive income from agricultural and non-agricultural activities.Non-agricultural activities (e.g. wage employment, services, construction, remittances, etc.) have important functions as necessary supplements for subsistence in general, and for increased subsistence security in times of drought. This is demonstrated in Table 3 for the Palapye region. Non-agricultural activities were the most important source of income for two-thirds to three-quarters of the households.Cattle, crops and small stock follow as main sources in order of general importance.Smallstock provided useful supplementary income during the drought of the 1980s.Income from crop production was very limited even before the drought. Thus, a picture emerges of two leading economic activities (non-agriculture and cattle) supported and supplemented by small stock and crop production. 3 shows clear stratum-related differences in terms of the diversity of income sources and stability over time. The upper stratum has a relatively reliable mix of income sources with primary income coming from cattle and non-agricultural activities, and secondary ones from cattle and small stock.On the other end, the lower stratum primarily depends on nonagricultural activities, and crop production as a secondary source. For the lower stratum, the latter source in particular has been subject to wide variations over the years.The middle stratum holds an intermediate position. Finally, it is important to note that the upper stratum is usually also most active and successful in crop and small stock production.Table 4 presents data, among others, on the size of livestock holdings, average crop yields and small stock flock size (Palapye) by stratum.34. What are the general implications of socio-economic stratification for households' options to adjust to land pressure? Stratification is found to be positively related to ownership of transport and equipment such as boreholes and tractors (Table 4). This finding confirms that adjustment opportunities to mounting land pressure as discussed above, are generally more feasible for the upper stratum. Furthermore, there is a (defined) positive relationship between strata and cattle as the main source of rural wealth.Around 45% of the households do not hold cattle; another 25% have too few animals to raise cash or to use own draught power without negative impacts on their herd (Arntzen, 1989) . Source: Arntzen (1989) .These households will find it very difficult to meet basic needs and face a highly insecure economic situation. They are therefore likely to adopt a short-term survival strategy. Sources: Opschoor (1981); Arntzen (1989) Herd holding and livestock management 35. There is no evidence that regional differences in stocking rates have influenced household involvement in livestock production, or the size of the average herd holding by households. In both regions, roughly 45 to 50% of the rural households do not hold any cattle. The average herd size is just under 30 in both regions. Although goats have a comparative advantage in degraded areas, we did not find a significant difference in the size of goat holdings in the two regions (Arntzen, 1989) . The size of goat holding was found to be positively related to socio-economic stratification. Nonetheless, small stock do offer additional income opportunities to households with no cattle (Table 4) . Opschoor (1981) estimated that 32% of the lower stratum households keep small stock in Kgatleng; in Palapye, the corresponding figure was 52%.36. Overstocking could be an incentive for increased sales of cattle. This was not confirmed by our data. Off-take proved to be positively related to stratification, the upper stratum selling more frequently and in larger numbers. Cash needs are the most frequent reason for selling in both regions. Marketed offtake rates greatly fluctuate within regions and between years.37. Livestock management in Botswana typically involves some herding and a prudent fallback strategy to secure year-round water for livestock. Apart from watering costs, cash expenditures are generally limited. Table 5 summarises management practices found in the study regions. The differences in herding practices between the two regions are not large.On the other hand, feeding practices show large differences. In the Palapye region, 44.5% of the livestock holders gave fodder to their livestock, compared with only 10.3% in Kgatleng in 1980 -i.e. prior to the drought. The difference can probably be attributed to government subsidies for fodder in 1987 -a drought year.The necessity to provide fodder appears to have been at the expense of other inputs such as salt and bonemeal .Proper fences have the advantage of private use of crop residues or grass inside the fence.In Palapye region, an estimated 23.8% of the crop producers use the residues for their own cattle only. No comparable data are available for Kgatleng. Source: Arntzen (1989) .38. Management practices are generally positively related to stratification. The upper stratum employs more varied management practices and more hired labour than the average livestock holder. For example, in Palapye, the upper stratum households hired labour more frequently (64.4% versus the average of 26.2%), were able to provide permanent herding more frequently (28.5% versus 11.2%) and gave fodder more regularly (68.5% versus 44.5%). Fodder subsidies thus benefit the upper stratum mostly. The upper stratum also makes better 39. The surveys showed interesting differences in livestock watering due to different physical conditions both within and between the two regions. For example, in eastern Kgatleng, 90% of the farmers get their water supply for livestock from a river throughout the year (free of charge). Elsewhere in the region, livestock holders rely on costly boreholes, particularly during the dry season.In Palapye in contrast, 94% of the livestock holders use wells. These differences have an important implication for access to groundwater and subsequently to the surrounding grazing areas. In Palapye region, the majority of the middle stratum (54%) has guaranteed access to groundwater as compared to 6% in the Kgatleng region.As a result, the positive relationship between ownership of groundwater and strata, which was found in Kgatleng and which is typical for Botswana as a whole, does not hold for the Palapye region. In Palapye, access to groundwater and rangelands is less skewed. This finding is of particular importance because livestock holders presently consider lack of grass the main constraint to livestock development. Opschoor (1981) found that grass had become the most common constraint in Kgatleng; subsequent surveys in the same district as well as in the Palapye region confirmed this finding.Apparently, farmers are better able to resolve water problems than grazing ones. 40. In order to ascertain the impact of drought on livestock development, we asked livestock holders in Palapye region to compare pre-drought conditions (1981) with those prevailing during the 1987 (drought year) field-work. Although grazing conditions had deteriorated substantially, they were already far from good in 1981. Whilst in 1987 93% of the livestock holders judged rangelands to be in bad shape, the majority of farmers (55%) considered the availability of grazing to have been already poor in 1981. From this, we may conclude that inadequate grazing is a structural problem but also one which is occasionally enhanced by droughts.41. Regarding the issue of balance or imbalance, the available evidence suggests an imbalance exists between rangeland use and its regeneration. A general indication is revealed by the fact that regional stocking rates exceed the potential carrying capacity. In addition, and perhaps more important, farmers themselves consider lack of grazing as the most important constraint to livestock development. It was found that this view also existed before the drought period during which field-work was conducted. A historical analysis of both regions -the results are not discussed in this papershows that the imbalance in rangeland use dates as far back as the 1950s (Arntzen, 1989) . In other words, the imbalance has been in existence over a considerable period. Finally, mixed farming may be seen as a spontaneous adaptation to the mounting pressure on rangelands. However, there are no data available which could shed light on the nature of the imbalance in terms of rangeland productivity. 42. Regarding the role of destabilising factors, strong national and international incentives have encouraged the expansion in livestock numbers, adding to the established comparative ecological advantage of livestock production in semi-arid areas. Little attention has been paid by government to incorporating environmental considerations into macroeconomic and livestock development planning. Most general and sectoral policies do not (yet) differentiate for the constraints facing specific groups or ecological zones, and therefore may not address the needs of specific areas and rangeland users. This overall context has probably hampered existing activities and policy instruments from being directed specifically towards improving of rangeland management. 43. Socio-economic stratification has proved to be an important determinant of household strategies and constraints in general and for livestock development in particular, and of adjustment opportunities in terms of expansion and intensification. For example, the ownership of household assets and the management practices pursued by farmers were found to be clearly stratum-related: ownership of transport means, hiring labour, provision of fodder and bonemeal, fencing of fields in order to prevent crop damage by cattle. Moreover, data for Kgatleng showed that the upper stratum (over 40 head of cattle) has better access to groundwater than the middle stratum. This is typical for Botswana as a whole, although data for the second study region showed more egalitarian access to groundwater and surrounding rangelands because of the existence of wells with considerably lower investments and running costs. Thus overall, small-herd owners are increasingly being marginalised, and may be forced to drop out of the livestock sector. Finally, our field-work showed that labour is an important constraint to rural activities.government's awareness of environmental matters is rapidly increasing and a number of measures have been made or suggested. These include the preparation of a comprehensive environmental policy.Regarding the livestock sector, changes in the livestock pricing system are under consideration, the slaughtering capacity has been expanded, land-use planning and enforcement is being strengthened, and recently it has been suggested to target subsidies and give due consideration to external environmental impacts of livestock development. These measures are steps in the right direction; the systematic integration of environment in macroeconomic and sectoral development planning is especially considered important.* This paper suggests additional (or more detailed) areas for consideration. First, more explicit use of economic instruments (e.g., reconsideration of the present pricing and subsidy schemes, negotiable grazing licenses also issued to non-cattle holders and adjustable to the carrying capacity) . Such instruments could assist in controlling rangeland pressure and increase the effectiveness of existing stock and conservation orders. Second, the role of water planning as a control instrument of rangeland use could be further enhanced (e.g., fees for water use). However, proper coordination with land use planning is required. Third, the terms of trade between rural sectors could be manipulated to promote qualitative improvements in livestock production instead of expansion in numbers. This requires an assessment of government support and external costs of individual sectors. Fourth, some important livestock development issues are: safeguarding the marginal position of small-herd owners (unless sufficient alternative income opportunities exist) , resolution of the unrestricted access to communal areas by freehold and leasehold ranchers (dual grazing rights) .The survey established a relationship between socio-economic stratification and access to rangelands as well as a relationship between socio-economic stratification and household strategies and the nature and scale of their activities.Government policies need to take these relationships into account by targeting towards specific strata and physical conditions of regions, not only in terms of carrying capacity but also in terms of access to grass and groundwater. FOOTNOTES 1. Presently, developing countries face a restricted choice of adaptations in comparison with the developed countries in the past.The following options have become very limited: emigration opportunities, territorial expansion, expanding the resource base through trade (in fact the reverse occurs), and economic diversification (because of protectionism in developed countries) .2. The following sections are based on Arntzen (1989). The reader is referred to this publication for more details.3. This implies that some of the points and suggestions made in this paper may have been addressed in this new policy. This can only be assessed by an analysis of this policy at a later stage. "}

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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"de122eb649380e673ea416f12fe3149e","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/ea5cfa67-4b05-4fff-b433-50f05c7be042/retrieve","id":"-1428915803"},"keywords":["Afar","agropastoral","biomass","degraded rangeland","flood","gradient","maize","pastoral","productivity","soil moisture"],"sieverID":"6feb7917-92a0-4e83-be21-ed97dcf4788b","content":"Afar in Ethiopia is a drought prone area characterized by low rainfall, high temperature and suffering from flash flood emerging from adjacent mountains. We introduced a flood barrier, water spreading weirs (WSWs) in 2015 to convert floods to a productive use and assessed its effect in 2016 and 2017. WSWs resulted in deposition of sediments where sand deposition was higher in the upside of upstream weir whereas silt and clay deposition was prominent at the central location between the two weirs. There was a moisture gradient across farming fields with volumetric water content (VWC) at 20 cm depth varying between 10 and 22% depending on the relative position/distance of fields from the WSWs, consequently, effecting significant difference in yield between fields. There was a positive relationship between VWC made available by WSWs at planting and the yield (P < 0.001, r = 0.76) and biomass productivity (P < 0.005, r = 0.46). WSWs created differing farming zone following soil moisture regime, affecting grain and biomass yield. In good potential zones with high moisture content, the WSW-based farming enabled to produce up to 5 and 15 t ha −1 yr −1 of maize grain and biomass, respectively, while in low potential zones there was a complete crop grain failure. The system enabled pastoralists to produce huge amount of biomass and grain during Belg (short) and Meher (long) growing seasons that was stored and utilized during succeeding dry periods. Furthermore, the practice ensured a visible recovery of degraded rangelands. This was evident from the filling up of the riverbed as well as the two WSW wings with 1 m high and about 450 m length each with fertile sediment from Belg and Meher seasons of 2016 and 2017. Hence, future studies should analyze the sustainability and the potential of flood-based development at large scale.Drought and flood have been affecting livelihoods in the low-lying Great Rift Valley of Africa interchangeably, with millions of people exposed to these extreme events on regular basis. Flash floods occur in lowland areas whereas upstream highlands generate sudden but excessive runoff in the peak rainy months. On the other hand, recurrent drought affects the livelihoods of the pastoral and agropastoral systems, which are forced to adapt mobile ways of life in search for water and feed for most parts of the year and shift in herd composition from grazers to browsers (Belay et al., 2005).The low-lying area in Afar is a drought prone area where rainfall is low, evapotranspiration is high (Fazzini et al., 2015) and the capacity to produce food and feed crops is extremely weak (Brown et al., 2017). However, the area is hydrologically connected with a series of mountainous terrains of adjacent highlands of Amhara and Tigray regions, which generate a large amount of flood that could be converted to productive use through introducing spate irrigation systems (Steenbergen et al., 2011). Diversions of river flow for spate irrigation provide available water resources for increasing local feed and food production and enhancing environmental sustainability (Tesfai and Graaff, 2000;Tesfai and Stroosnijder, 2001;Mehari et al., 2005). A detailed review of spate irrigation (Erkossa et al., 2013) described the traditional use of floods for supplemental spate irrigation for crop production in different parts of Ethiopia.While farmers in drought prone areas of Ethiopia, mainly Amhara and Tigray regions benefit from spate irrigation to develop crop-livestock systems (Ham, 2008;Erkossa et al., 2013;Hiben and Embaye, 2013), the (agro)pastoral communities in Afar are rarely utilizing these resources. Rather, flood and associated soil erosion have been perceived as top ranking problems by agro-pastoralists in the vicinity of Chifra (Gebreyes et al., 2017). The major reasons for low level of spate irrigation could be: (1) limited available labor in pastoral systems because men are mostly in continuous mobility traveling long distances searching forage and water for their livestock; (2) they rarely have experience in farming and in timely agronomic management and (3) there is limited institutional support for pastoralists to learn, adapt and practice flood-based farming in the locality.Historically, the floods used to be naturally flushed to the lowlying flat lands and rangelands providing opportunity for natural grass to sprout helping (agro)pastoralists for their livestock to browse in rotation on seasonal basis. However, this practice has changed due to increasingly regular extreme events of flood and drought. It has aggravated land degradation and facilitated land use change (Tsegaye, 2010;Seid et al., 2016) by converting the flood channels to deep gullies and undulating landscapes, posing difficulties for the flood to follow its traditional routs.Moreover, soil erosion and degradation abandoned a large area of rangeland, the productivity of the traditional grazing lands diminished (Gebremeskel, 2006). Overgrazing (Sonneveld et al., 2010), climate change (Meze-Hausken, 2004;Deressa et al., 2008) and expansion of invasive weeds mainly Prosopis juliflora (Mehari, 2015) posed additional pressure on the natural grazing land reducing the carrying capacity of the area for livestock grazing. Traditional common property regimes have considerably diminished, and traditional livelihood practices threatened (Schmidt and Pearson, 2016) aggravating conflicts over resources (Hundie, 2010) hence, a slow move from pure pastoralism to agro-pastoralism is evident in Afar (Schmidt and Pearson, 2016). In response to the pressing problems of soil erosion and land degradation, local governments have made effort to implement various soil and water conservation technologies including contour bunds, earthen bunds, stone bunds, gabions/check dams and bench terrace among others in Afar. However, these measures were rarely effective at minimizing the effects of torrential floods, and hence a low to very low adoption rate has been reported (Assen and Ashebo, 2018). One recently tested sustainable flood management intervention in flood-drought prone areas of Ethiopia is water spreading weirs (WSWs) (GIZ, 2012;Nill et al., 2012;Ketter and Amede, 2017), which is stemming from the traditional flood management system.WSWs are low retention walls designed to dissipate flash flood into rangelands and farms while also reducing runoff and soil erosion. They are made of natural stone and cement and consist of a spillway in the dry riverbed itself, lateral abutments for stabilization and wing walls that span the width of the valley perpendicular to the dry river on both sides of the spillway (GIZ, 2012;Akker et al., 2015). WSWs may alter flood course and the distribution of fertile sediments and nutrients. Sedimentation could improve the physical and chemical properties of soils; builds up soil depth, increases crop production and keeps production costs low as no cost of fertilizer is involved (Tesfai and Stroosnijder, 2001;Tesfai and Sterk, 2002;Mesbah et al., 2016). This would create spatial difference in soil moisture and soil fertility that could determine the area of land to be cultivated and crop productivity and production (Schöning et al., 2012).The governing principle in this approach is that WSWs alter flood velocity, direction and spatial pattern of moisture and sediment deposition modifying spatial distribution of soil moisture, soil physico-chemical characteristics and thereby productivity depending on how effectively water and sediment load from flood events are spread over the command area.Although WSWs are widely implemented in west Africa (Ackermann et al., 2014), the use of WSWs as an entry point to convert the highly degraded rangeland into a productive land use in extremely dry condition is a new approach for Ethiopia demonstrated in this paper.Therefore, this study is conducted to quantify the effect of WSW on spatial distribution of soil water, and soil nutrient, and establish the implications of these changes on crop yield of maize in the dryland agropastoral settings.The study is conducted at Shekai Boru site of Chifra district in Afar, located at 11°36 ′ 43 ′′ N and 40°02 ′ 04 ′′ near the base of the eastern escarpment of the Ethiopian highlands (Fig. 1). The site covers 49.3 ha in a drought prone area where annual rainfall ranges from 200 to 500 mm per year, with the rain season extends from July through September (Fig. 2). The area receives floods between March and April, and July and September because the adjacent highlands also receive higher rainfall in both seasons. The mean, minimum and maximum temperatures are: 27.8, 18.3 and 37.6°C, respectively. The soils are variable, ranging from deep alluvial soils in the valley bottoms bordering the highlands to shallow, and mostly gravel-dominated soils in degraded rangelands.Seasonal floods, emerging from adjacent highlands have been affecting downstream dwellers, washing away and silting fields and rangelands, and degrading grazing areas by creating gullies and eroding farms. On the other hand, the highlands are experiencing runoff, and soil and nutrient erosion (Tamene and Vlek, 2008;Amare et al., 2013) that could be useful for lowlands of Afar. GIZ-Ethiopia has constructed a series of cemented and strong physical structures, 'water spreading weirs', in Shekai Boru landscape following the contour (Nill et al., 2012), which were designed to capture and dissipate flood water to the flat rangelands. ICRISAT Ethiopia has been engaged in developing an approach, creating a new farming system to convert the flood into productive use. The schematic orientation of the weirs and the established farming system is presented in Figure 3. The WSWs were constructed in 2015. For simplicity purpose in this paper, we described the upper WSW in the west side as weir 1, and the lower WSW as weir 2.Fields were demarcated by tracking the moisture regime made available for effective production of crops resulting from floods regulated by WSWs. In this approach we identified seven locations based on their position relative to the WSWs (Table 1) aiming to represent fields nearby upstream side of the two WSWs (B and D), downstream sides of the two WSWs (C and F), between the WSWs, fields at far upstream of weir 1(A), and far downstream of weir 2(G) (Fig. 3). Each maize field was categorized to the nearest location. Crop, soil and moisture information was analyzed for each location.Mapping the moisture gradient The entire area was tracked using GIS systems to characterize soilwater distribution and soil fertility gradients created by WSW, which was modified by sediment emerging from the highlands along with the flood, enriching the flat plains. Moisture tracking was conducted by measuring volumetric water content (VWC) at 20 cm depth using TDR 300 instrument (see Spectrum Technologies, Inc., https://www.specmeters.com/soil-and-water/ soil-moisture/fieldscout-tdr-meters). The VWC measurement was taken from 188 points with their coordinates covering all fields in the site each of which was averaged from replications of three measurements within 5 m radius. The reading points  Renewable Agriculture and Food Systems 3were georeferenced and values were interpolated for spatial analysis of moisture gradient using the ArcGIS10.4.1 platform. A spatial database on season wide crop information, soil moisture status and other relevant attributes was established.Rainfall characteristics in adjacent highlands were used as proxy to analyze the potential of flood-based farming in the lowlands. The AgMERRA Climate Forcing Dataset for Agricultural Modeling (Ruane et al., 2015) was used to compare lowland with the adjacent highlands.The number of wet days (rainfall greater than 1 mm day −1 ), and number of days that exceed rainfall amounts of 5, 10, 15 and 20 mm day −1 were calculated to compare the lowland and the adjacent highland with the assumption that the higher the frequency of high-intensity rains, the higher the potential for flood in the lowland.Soil samples for lab analysis were collected from 15 locations at two depths representing 0-25 cm and 25-50 cm in a grid of five rows running parallel to both sides of the WSWs, by three columns roughly parallel to the river. The first row with three sampling points in location A was upstream far from the effects of WSWs, hence it was used as a control for comparison of soil moisture and yield gradients. The samples were analyzed for various chemical and physical properties in three replications in HORTICUP laboratory at Debrezeit. The Bouyoucos Hydrometer method (Bouyoucos, 1962) was used for texture analysis, the Walkley and Black (1934) method for organic carbon; the Kjeldahl method (Kirk, 1950) for total nitrogen; the steam distillation method (Kister, 1992) for NO 3 -N and NH 4 -N and the Mehlich-3 method (Schroder et al., 2009) for other elemental determinations (Table 3). The parameters include % clay, % silt, % sand, pH, EC, Ca, Mg, available P and exchangeable K, S, Cu, Zn, B, TN, OC, OM, NO 3 -N and NH 4 -N. The data were used to characterize and compare the spatial difference in  physico-chemical properties of soil resulting from the effects WSWs.Short maturing maize crop was planted following the occurrence of the second flood (mid-April for Belg season and mid-June for Meher season). The first flood improves the workability and increase moisture content of the extreme dry soil that resulted from the preceding dry periods. Land clearing was conducted manually following the first flood by destroying weeds. Tillage was conducted only at the time of planting. No chemical fertilizer was applied at any stage of the cropping seasons, hence it entirely depended on the soil deposit coming from highlands with floods. Basic crop information including yield and biomass was collected averaged from three quadrats (1 m 2 each) per field. The average field size was 0.26 ha.The VWC, yield and biomass data that were collected from each maize yield were grouped into the nearest of the seven locations (section 'Approaches and conceptual framework'). We used TukeyHSD (Faraway, 2005) to test the significance of differences in yield biomass and VWC between locations using RStudio (https://www.rstudio.com).VWC in a location is a function of availability of flood water the soil type in the location. The relationship between VWC with yield and biomass was examined using a linear regression model in order to use VWC as proxy indicator for classifying locations into similar farming zones, hereafter referred to as 'homogeneous farming zones' (HFZs). We used the mean values and mean difference between locations from the TukeyHSD test to group the seven locations into three relatively homogeneous and an easy to use recommendation unit for future farm decision and agricultural development by agro-pastoralists. We grouped locations with non-significant difference into similar HFZs represented as high moisture, medium moisture and low moisture zones. The range in VWC from fields within each aggregated HFZ was used as criteria to classify the interpolated VWC map into map of HFZs. We also analyzed the yield, biomass, soil moisture at planting and physico-chemical soil characteristics of the three HFZs.The amount and intensity of rainfall received in the command area and adjacent highlands define the potential for flood-based farming. The effectiveness depends on how often high-intensity rain events happen to generate flood for the lowland. Low and medium intensity rains in the highland also contribute to runoff generation because they improve the antecedent moisture conditions of the soil and increased runoff from successive rains. On average between 1980 and 2010, the lowland around Chifra received 11 days yr −1 of rainy days with rainfall greater than 10 mm day −1 whereas the adjacent highland received 32 days yr −1 exceeding 10 mm day −1 (Fig. 4). Similarly, the lowland exceeds the 15 and 20 mm day −1 intensities for 5 and 2 days yr −1 , respectively, whereas the adjacent highland exceeds these amounts for 19 and 12 days yr −1 , respectively. The high-intensity rains are more frequent in highlands than in the lowlands. Furthermore, the vast catchment area in the highlands collects and drains huge amount of flood to the lowland.The WSWs helped reduce velocity of floods and flash it back to open fields resulting in sediment deposition across fields. The deposition pattern created soil property gradient, which varied depending on the micromorphology of the fields, and the distance of fields from WSWs and the river (Fig. 3).Location 'A' was dominated by fine texture soils. The location has significantly higher clay content (P < 0.001) compared with all other downstream locations. This could be because the location was far upstream of weir 1 (around 400 m) where the soil was the result of localized removals and depositions i.e., the location receives small amount, low velocity localized floods from upstream grazing lands that ends in this location with fine texture suspension materials.Location 'B' was a high sand deposition area; hence, it was dominated by sand texture soil (Table 2). This was the location where floods get the first encounter with the upper WSW (Fig. 3) and bounce back resulting in velocity reduction that causes accumulation of sand from unloading of heavy suspended materials on the upper side of the weir whereas excess water jumps over the weir to location 'C'. Locations 'C', 'D' and 'E' that are situated between the two WSWs are dominated by silt.The mean and standard errors of some chemical properties of soils are presented in Table 3. Generally, some of the chemical constituents of the soils of the project site including P, Cu and Fe, are Zn are higher than reported for other parts of the country, for example, in southern rift valley (Alemayehu et al., 2016), Akaki, Alemaya, Ginchi and Sheno (Mamo et al., 2002) and Wolaita (Laekemariam et al., 2016). This could be due to the buildup of alluvial soils through continuous deposition of soils coming from the adjacent highlands dominated by cultivated and grazing land that can export higher sediment and nutrients through runoff (Abegaz et al., 2016;Elledge and Thornton, 2017).The uncultivated location B was significantly higher in Mo and SI content (P < 0.05). This sand-dominated location has significantly lower percentage of total nitrogen and organic matter (P < 0.05) compared with other locations.Moreover, there was no significance difference in most physico-chemical properties of soils between the two layers at 0-25 and 25-50 cm depths. This could be because these depths are results of short time of deposition (2016-2017) from several random floods that could be assumed to carry similar composition of suspended loads.WSW-based production provided enormous advantages in rehabilitating degraded rangeland. This was evident from the quick filling up of gullies in the degraded grazing lands that was converted into a green valley after implementation of WSW-based forage and food crop production (data not presented). Variation in the soil's physical and hydrological properties, as reflected by spatial differences in soil moisture, may be advantageous in minimizing widespread runoff and erosion, by creating spatial isolation of runoff producing areas and by promoting discontinuity in hydrological pathway (Fitzjohn et al., 1998). Weir 1 and weir 2 that were constructed at 1-m high have been completely filled with fertile sediments throughout the wings just in 2 years. The deep river bed was filled up to Renewable Agriculture and Food Systems   flat level (data not presented) such that it has created a safe livestock and human crossing area, which is not possible in sections outside of this intervention area. Several governmental and nongovernmental projects deal with erosion control but a preference for techniques that function in the Ethiopian Highlands, including hillside terracing and gabion construction, couldn't adequately address problems forged in the lowlands (Schmidt and Pearson, 2016).The soil moisture condition varies spatially depending on the position of the fields relative to the WSWs, the amount of flood received that varies from time to time and season to season, and the frequency of floods that could affect the anticipated moisture condition.Generally, there was significant difference in VWC across most locations whereas relative homogeneity is observed between locations A and G, C and E and D and F (Fig. 5). The farm fields that are situated below the downstream weir showed a significantly lower VWC compared with fields between the weirs (P < 0.001). This is because the water that flows over weir 2 runs faster as there is no structure that slows down the flow (locations A and G).One of the advantages of WSWs was the ability to safely distribute flood water to the open flat lands so that flood could be converted into productive use for biomass and grain production. The moisture made available as a result of WSWs was spatially variable and influences the performance of grain and biomass productivity. Generally, VWC at the time of planting in 2017 main season ranged between 10 and 22%. The range depends on the relative distance of the fields from the WSWs and the river as well as the microtopography of fields. However, heavy floods have the tendency to create concentrated overflow at the tails of WSWs, therefore, cultivators need to prepare safe drainage to avoid the potential danger of land degradation and its impact on food security.Maize fields are used as proxy to analyze productivity gradient because of the high demand of maize for water and nutrients compared with other cereals (FAO, 1991). Generally, maize yield was low in the upper most location A and lower-positioned locations F and G compared with locations in the middle (Table 4). Biomass productivity was also low in the lower locations F and G. Both yield and biomass productivities have similar trends with VWC at planting. However, the relationship was stronger between VWC and yield.Generally, there was a significant difference in yield (P < 0.005) and biomass (P < 0.005) productivity among the different locations (Fig. 6). Locations A and G showed significantly lower grain yield compared with locations C, D, E and F (P < 0.05).Locations F and G show lower biomass productivity compared with locations A, C and D (P < 0.001). Biomass from location E was lower than that of location C (P < 0.005). However, there was no difference in biomass productivity between locations F and G.There was a positive relationship between VWC and yield (P < 0.001, r = 0.76), as well as VWC and biomass (P < 0.005, r = 0.46) (Figs. 7a and b). Hence, the influence of soil moisture on productivity is evident; therefore, moisture can be a good indicator for making agricultural decisions.Through their experience in flood management in the Belg and main seasons of 2016 and 2017, agropastoralists have learned to visually characterize their fields as poor, medium or good potential depending on the moisture content. Our approach of statistics and GIS-based clustering and mapping of locations into HFZs would simplify agro-pastoralists' farming decision (Fig. 8).One of the new elements of this approach we introduced in this study compared with other studies of spate irrigation in Ethiopia is the use of moisture tracing approach to guide decision on seasonal crop allocation and management. This helped to compare productivity difference created due to the influence of moisture gradient. Consequently, maize yield was found to be higher (P < 0.001) in the high moisture zone than both in medium and low moisture zones. However, the difference in mean biomass was significant only between the fields with high and low moisture condition (P < 0.05).Farming zone with poor potential (FZ-P) FZ-P constitutes locations 'A' and 'G'. The lower productivity in the FZ-P was strongly associated with the low soil moisture condition due to: (i) the absence of WSW below location 'G' where flood runs without any structural barrier to dissipate the flow velocity causing soil erosion. (ii) The long distance of location 'A' from the nearest WSW that makes it difficult to supply water particularly from low intensity/amount floods. Agro-pastoralists in this zone may consider planting short maturing dryland crops like mung bean or biomass may be the primary focus of production although considerable yield could be attained.Farming zone with medium potential (FZ-M) FZ-M comprises of locations 'D' and 'F' with medium soil moisture condition. Both locations have better access to flash flood from both WSWs compared with FZ-P. However, low intensity/ Farming zone with good potential (FZ-G) FZ-G usually receives the high amount of moisture. Locations B, C and E make up FZ-G. This zone covers fields located immediately upstream of WSWs, and fields immediately downstream of WSW with condition that there is another WSW below to slow   down and flash back the excess flood. This zone also receives maximum deposition. The 1-m high WSW has been completely filled with fertile deposition across the length of the wings from floods in 2016 and 2017. This justifies the need to continue construct cascade of WSW upstream and downstream of the existing scheme.In general, yield and biomass were higher for Meher seasons than for Belg. Only fields with good and medium moisture status provided grain yield during the 2016 Meher and 2017 Belg seasons. This could be partly explained by the terminal drought due to short flood seasons and changing planting dates. However, biomass productivity was good for all seasons.The implementation of WSW-based production in one of the degraded rangelands of Afar enabled to attain biomass productivity of 17-28 t ha −1 yr −1 from Belg and Meher seasons (Table 5).This productivity level was attained without the application of any chemical fertilizer. The high yield could be the associated with continual movement of nutrients from upstream across seasons of 2016 and 2017. This result was in line with other studies where well managed floods increased crop production, and reduces cost of production (Tesfai and Sterk, 2002). In Afar, the use of nitrogen, phosphorous and potassium inputs from inorganic and organic sources was nil whereas the input from sedimentation that is originating from irrigation water and sedimentation of eroded soil materials was the highest of all the regions in Ethiopia (Haileslassie et al., 2005).The productivity differs from location to location depending on the spatial variability of moisture as influenced by WSWs. Gebremeskel (2006) has made a quantitative assessment of the biomass productivity of rangelands in Afar where he estimated average dry matter productivity (of 2 years) of 0.75 t ha −1 yr −1 in severely degraded rangelands, and 1.35 and −2.15 t ha −1 yr −1 on moderately and slightly degraded rangelands, respectively.Therefore, our result demonstrated that (i) WSW-based production provided tremendous productivity advantage compared with the natural regeneration of grazing lands and (ii) can close a huge biomass gap in the (agro)pastoral community and provide additional gain from grain production contributing toward food security of the community. Unlike in the open grazing system, the biomass produced using this system can be stored for dry periods that help to build resilient (agro)pastoral community. This was practically demonstrated in 2016/2017 and 2017/2018 when beneficiaries could pile huge amount of biomass on top of acacia trees and inside fenced plots and used it for livestock feeding in times when feeding livestock from the natural grazing was hardly possible. Gumma et al. (2019) estimated that a minimum of 720,000 and 550,000 ha of land could be used for planning flood-based development in Afar using the Meher and Belg seasons, respectively. This depicts a huge potential for scaling up of WSW-based production of such high productivity level. This is particularly important because the carrying capacity of  the natural range land is under high pressure from invasive weeds (Haregeweyn et al., 2013;Mehari, 2015;Rogers et al., 2017), and rangeland degradation (Tilahun et al., 2016) whereas the use of crop residue as livestock feed has a positive impact on food security (Beyene, 2015). Furthermore, WSWs have the capacity to facilitate artificial recharge of ground water (Raes et al., 2008;Mesbah et al., 2016).For sustainability, community participation as well as operation and maintenance strategy is important (Amede et al., 2007;Castelli et al., 2018) as increasing the height of WSWs after the weir height is filled with sediment is required. Therefore, reconstruction of head work periodically could be challenging (Komakech et al., 2011) because it involves additional labor and cost.The two water-spreading weirs constructed in the study area have positively affected the distribution of the soil and moisture. The WSW-based farming has transformed the degraded grazing land in such a dry environment into a highly productive green valley. The flood that is spread across the farm lands by the WSWs enabled to produce huge biomass and additional grains on the degraded grazing lands which is far greater than the biomass productivity of the natural grazing land. The WSWs affected the moisture gradient across the farming zones, hence, biomass and grain yield productivity are influenced by the VWC that was made available by the WSWs across fields. Furthermore, the implementation of WSW-based farming ensures quick filling up of the degraded lands, gullies in the farm lands within the WSWs, and the deep channel of the main river bed with fertile sediment. We conclude that this development model has a huge potential for scaling up to the vast areas of Afar, other regions and countries with similar situation and resource bases. However, scaling up needs to be preceded by detailed analysis of the potential of flood-based development in the region of interest (Gumma et al., 2019)."}

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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"07595db04a552287e3b50c7fc2c5304a","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/5a22dfed-2c99-427c-b25c-a9b358784e34/retrieve","id":"-777059528"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"7433e1a3-0f8a-4a83-a181-edb4b2a1ea9a","content":"Maize streak virus is generally considered the most important and widespread disease of maize grown in sub-Saharan Africa. Occasionally reaching epidemic proportions, it is a chronic problem for small-scale farmers who lack the labor or equipment to ensure that their entire crop is planted early in the season. The later they plant, the greater the risk of virus damage.IITA's best-known accomplishment in maize improvement has been the development of a practical resistance screening system for large-scale field use against the streak virus. The system has been used to produce a wide rarlQe of resistant germ plasm fitting the various agroecologies of sub-Saharan Africa.The system enables th e identification of durable , oligogenic resistance. Since streak resistance carries no yield penalty or other undesirable side effects, and a practical screening technique exists, the effort now is to incorporate streak resistance into any variety before it is released in the region. To help achieve this goal, IITA has assisted national research programs to incorporate the screening method for streak resistance into their routine breeding practice. This booklet carries that assistance one step further. We hope the national programs in the region wil l use it profitably. We welcome their feedback on the usefulness of this publication.The success of any program breeding for resistance to diseases and/o r insects depends large ly on the development of suitable and reliable scree ning techn iques. Such techniques also have to be simple and relatively inexpensive. Field screening under natural infestations is often unsuccessful because the incidence of pests is erratic. To overcome this problem and to minimize the chance of 'escapes' in screening, it is necessary to infest a large number of plants artificially every season. For that purpose , rearing of the target insect is necessary.Mass rearing of Cicadulina leafhoppers was begun at the International Institute ofTropical Agriculture (IITA) , Ibadan, Nigeria, in 1976. Over the yea rs, a number of modifications and improvements have been made (Leuschner et al.l 980;Soto et al. 1982;Alam 1983;Dabrowski 1983).This handbook prese nts the techniques developed and experiences accumu lated at liT A over the past 15 yea rs for mass re aring and infestation of Cicadulina leafhoppe rs in screen ing for resistance to maize streak vi ru s (MSV).Maize streak virus (MSV) is one of the most economically damaging diseases of maize in sub-Saharan Africa. It is found on ly in Africa and surrounding islands, whe re it is widely distri buted and transmitted by leafhoppers in the genus Cicadulina. MSV is found in both forest and savanna zones and in varying altitudes (0-2000 m). Damage to maize from MSV can be insignificant in some years but epid emics of the disease in other years can devastate crops with yield losses of 100% (Fajemisin and Shoyinka 1976). The severity of the disease is usually re lated to the age of the plant at the time of infection , as well as to the relative suscepti bi lity of the varie ty. The you ng er the plant, the greater the severity of symptoms. At IITA, yield losses under artificially induced infestation of four varieti es with differing levels of resistance/susceptibility were found to range from 10 to 72%.Symptoms of MSV consist of broken to almost continuous , narrow, white ch lorotic stripes which develop ove r and along the vein on most of the leaf surface (Fig . 1). The density of striping depends on varietal susceptibility. Maize plants are vuln erable to MSV from emerge nce to tasseling . a Figure 1 Maize plant with streak virus symptoms 2 Susceptible plants infected at the seedling stage become stunted and may die or produce small and poorly filled ears (Fajemisin et al. 1976;Rossel and Thottappilly 1985).Twenty-two species of Cicadulina leafh oppers have been reported ; 18 of th ese occur in Africa (Webb 1987). Only eight species are known to be vectors of MSV (Table 1).The Cicadulina leafhoppers vary in length from 2.2 mm to 3.8 mm (Rose 1978). Coloration of the insects varie s but is generally pale to golden yellow. Some species have black markings on the forewings, pronotum, and venter. The dorsal side of the abdomen is usually brown. Most species have a pair of round, brown spots on the frontal margin of the forehead (Ruppel 1965). The fema le Cicadulina is distinguished from the male by its long ovipositor.  Dabrowski 1987Okoth & Dabrowski 1987Dabrowski 1987a Th e identification of Cicadulina species is somewhat difficult. Species differ marked ly in mal e genital characters. The shape and size of the aedeagus and th e shape of th e pygophore processes are use ful characte rs for differentiating between species of Cicadulina (Ruppel 1965;van Rensburg 1983;Webb 1987). Figure 2 illustrates genital characters fo r two of the most common species of Cicadulina in Afri ca: C. mbila and C. storeyi (= C. triangula). Webb (1987) mentioned that care should be taken in distinguishing Arrican species of Cicadulina from a leafh oppe r of th e ge nus Afrosteles. Extern ally, both genera are similar. However, Afrosteles distans is slightly larger than Cicadulina and it lacks the dark apex of the ovipositor which is present in Cicaduliha.  The distribution pattern s of Cicadulina leafh oppers also vary conside rabl y across Africa.C. mbila and C. storeyi (Fi g. 3) are wide ly distribu ted in Africa. C. mbila is th e most important vector species (Nielson 1968;Okoth and Dabrowski 1987). Both C. mbila and C. storeyi are presently bein g used fo r mass rea ring purposes in various African co untries. b \\ . \"., . .,Knowledge of an insect's life history is important for a successful mass rearing program . Cicadulina species differ in Iheir life history and ability to transmit MSV. The life histories of C. mbila and C. storeyi have been studied extensively (Table 2). Their developmental periods (egg to adult) (Fig. 4)    To start a new colony of Cicadulina leafhoppers, collect the live leafhoppers from the field. The optimal time for collection of Cicadulina leafhoppers is at the end of the rainy season, when leafhopper population density is high and they migrate from old plants to young ones.Grass species of the genera Pennisetum, Digitaria, Eleusine, Brachiaria, Paspalum, Setaria, and Panicum are preferred by Cicadulina; so you should sample them for col lection (Rose 1978;Okoth and Dabrowski 1987) . In addition, you could sample irrigated wheat and grasses growing near rivers , lakes , or in valley bottoms.There are various ways by which you can collect Cicadulina leafhoppers from the field, but most suitable is a method that uses a cubical frame made of iron or steel rods, covered by a dark green or black cotton cloth-with transparent netting or fine mosquito net on one side (Fig. 5) (Dabrowski 1983). The iron frame and the cloth are handy and portable.To construct a frame, you require four 140-150 cm pieces of iron or steel rod 10. -15 mm in diameter. Sharpen the lower ends of the rods so that they can be easily pushed into the soil. Bend the top end of the rod into a short 20-25 cm arm to give corner support. At the sampling site, follow the following steps for collection of Cicadulina leafhoppers.1. Place the iron rods at the four corners of the sampling site in such a way that they will form a cage size 1.25 x 1.25 m. Do not disturb the site.Once the rods are fixed , place the dark cloth quickly over them so that the Cicadufina leafhoppers within the cage cannot escape .3. Enter the cage and disturb the grasses, so that insects within the cage will be attracted to the light on the side with transparent netting (Fig. 6). From there, selectively collect the Cicadulina leafhoppers, using a mouth aspirator.4. Cage the fema le leafhoppers singly with young millet or maize seed lings, using polyvinyl chloride (PVC) tubes (about 8 cm in diameter and 25 to 30 cm long) (Fig. 7).Alternati ve ly release the Cicadulina leafhoppers co llected into a cage (approx. 40 x 40 x 60 cm) (Fig. 8) with young, potted, insect-free millet or maize plants and transport back to the laboratory or screenhouse.  3. When the nymphs become adults, collect samples of males separately from each cage for species identification , and keep the samples in 75% alcohol (ethanol). Before identification, place the specimens in 10% potassium hydroxide (KOH) solution for 24 hours. Take out a specimen and place it under a dissecting microscope. Dissect the last abdominal segment to look for the male genitalia-the pygophore processes and aedeagus. See Figure 2 for an illustration of the genitalia of two common Cicadulina species. Follow Webb's (1987) key for identification of other species. 10 4. Once species identification is completed, put together adults belonging to the same species and release them into larger cages to build up the population (Fig. 9). Use only one species for mas& rearing.Select Cicadulina species with a high reproductive potential and high transmission ability of MSV for mass rearing and resistance screening. As explained, this would mean you use either C. mbila or C. storeyi for rearing. An added advantage is that ample information and experience exist on mass rearing these two species in various African countries.The standard procedure for mass rearing of Cicadulina leafhoppers at IITA is illustrated in Figure 10. The various steps involved are described next.The best host for egg laying by Cicadulina females is pearl millet, Pennisetum americanum (= typhoides). Up to 220 eggs per female have been obtained at IITA on this host (Dabrowski 1987b). Millet has the additional advantage over maize of tolerating large leafhopper populations without suffering severe damage. Use potted 14-day old plants for oviposition.For egg laying, keep adults on open oviposition tables (0.75 m high) (Fig. 11) or in metal framed cages (1.25 x 1.25Figure 11 Open table for egg-laying by leafhoppers on millet plantsNymphal rearing cageThe cage is covered with dark cloth prior to collection of leafhoppers 12x 1.50 m) covered with fine insect proof mesh (Fig. 12).Sew the mesh to form a cage that will fit over the metal frame; a zipper on one side of the mesh cage allows easy access to the plants and insects inside. Place cages over tables about 0.75 m high. Our experience at IITA is that adu lts kept on open tables do not escape from the screen house. This could be partly a result of adaptation to rearing conditions (i.e. , se lection for short-distance flyers), likely to occur in any large colony. We thus recommend using a combination of both methods (open tables and close cages) for oviposition until you obtain a large enough colony of leafhoppers adapted to open tables.After a one-week oviposition period , transfer the potted plants to nymphal rearing cages (1.25 x 1.25 x 1.50 m) for egg hatching and nymphal development (Fig. 12). Add fresh plants to the tables, so that females can continue layi ng eggs. Coll ect the adu lts and release them onto oviposition tables at least every 3-4 weeks. The duration of the oviposition period might vary , according to species and environmental conditions. Th erefore , carry out experiments to determine the most appropriate length of time for any given location. This period , however, shou ld not be very long , so as to avoid a corresponding ly long nymphal emergence period that will resu lt in a mixture of nymphs of different ages. Plant millet weekly to ensure avai labi lity of host plants for rearing.Once eggs hatch, nymphs wi ll start to feed on the millet plants. Add fresh plants to the cages regularly to ensure an adequate supp ly of food. Cut the older plants, on which nymphs have been feeding, with a sharp knife, and shake gently to dislodge the nymphs onto the fresh plants. Nymphs will take about 3 weeks to become adults.A nymphal rearing cage can hold 20-24 pots. However, it is advisable to reduce this number to 16 during the rainy season when high relative humidity prevai ls. This will ensure air flow and will help reduce problems of fungal growth on the millet plants.Em ergence of all the adults in a nymphal rearing cage shou ld ideally occur within one week. COllect the ad ults by covering the cage with a dark cotton cloth , leavin g a small portion of the cage uncovered (Fig. 13). Th e leafhoppers will respond to the light and move to the portion of the cage left uncovered. A person can then move into the cage and use a mouth aspirator or a modified vacuum cleaner (200-500 W) for collection . The rubber tube of th e vacuum cleaner is attached to a thick rubbe r tube (15 cm long x 6 cm diam) and the latter connected to a small plastic co ll ecting vial (9 cm long x 5 cm diam) (Fig. 14). The collecti ng vial shou ld have one end cove red by fine mesh ; the other end shou ld be a narrow tube that will be used to collect the insects (see inset in Fig. 14). After you have collected th em , transfer leafhoppers to vi ru s acquisition feeding cages or to oviposition tables , according to your rearing needs at th at time . Using Cicadulina in resistance screeningUse young potted MSV-infected maize plants of a streaksusceptible variety for virus acquisition feeding. Plant maize on a regular basis and infect it with MSV, 7-10 days before it is needed. Keep the plants in a cage the same size as the nymphal rearing cages. A period of 48 h is optimal for virus acquisition. After this period , col lect the viruliferous leafhoppers again, using the vacuum cleaner, and transfer to leafhopper dispensing vials (9 cm long x 5 cm diam) for transport to the field.The leafhopper dispensing vial is made of PVC , covered with fine mesh at one end and with a plastic lid at the other.The plastic lid of the dispensing vial is removable, to allow transfer of leafhoppers from the collecting \\i.ial into it. The lid has a small orifice (3 mm diam) to allow the leafhoppers to pass when they are dispensed. This orifice is covered with a small plug of cotton wool or grass, to prevent the leafhoppers from escaping during transport.If the field is far from your rearing facilities, collect the viruliferous leafhoppers from the virus acquisition cage and place them in a smaller cage (approx. 40 x 40 x 60 cm) with a few healthy potted maize or millet plants, so that they can be easily transported to the field. Prior to infesting the field, collect the leafhoppers from the cage with a mouth aspirator and transfer them to leafhopper dispensing vials.Alternatively, after collecting the leafhoppers from the virus acquisition cage, transfer them to the dispensing vials and transport these to the field in a cooler. At low temperatures (10 to 12°C) the leafhoppers wi ll sUNive for several hours. While humidity should be high to prevent dessication, water condensing in the vial will kill the insects. Therefore, cover the inner wall of the vial with absorbent paper (i .e., paper towel or filter paper) to collect the excess moisture resulting from condensation. If the field is close to your rearing facilities, you can take the leafhoppers directly to the field in the dispensing vials.To ease infestation, anesthetize leafhoppers with carbon dioxide (C0 2 ) immediately before you dispense them. Carry the CO 2 to the fie ld in a rubber inner tube , to which a thin rubber hose with a valve is attached (Fig. 15) (Leuschner et al. 1980). The CO 2 immob ilizes the leaihoppers, preVenting their escape. Next, dispense the insects into the leaf whorl at a rate of 3-4 leafhoppers per plant (Fig. 16). The leafhoppers wi ll become active shortly after release , and they wi ll start feeding on the plant.If necessary, use CO 2 a second time to inactivate the wakening leafhoppers in the vial. Excessive use of CO 2 , however, wi ll kill some insects and result in nonuniform MSV infestati ons. C02 can be bought from commercial establi shments, such as soft drink bottling companies , or it can be obtained from fire extinguishe rs. Ca rry out field infestations when plants are at the three-leaf stage (approx. 8-10 days after planting) (Fig. 16).Figure 15 Anesthetizing leafhoppers with carbon dioxi de (C0 2 ) in the field before infestation of maize seedlings. Notice the inner tube used to carry CO 2 to the fieldAnesthetized leafhoppers are shaken out of the vial onto a maize seedling (3-4 per plant) showing MSV symptoms three weeks after infestationViral symptoms will appear in 5-1 0 days and th ey will be cl early visible 2-3 weeks afte r infestati on (Fig. 17). The following visual rating scale of 0 to 5 (Tabl e 3) has been developed based on Soto et al. (1982) fo r evaluating resistance to maize stre ak virus (Fig . 18) .Selecti on for MSV resistance is done by first thinning out susceptible plants 3-4 weeks after planting. At fl owe rin g, se lect plants com bining adequate levels of resistance (1-3 on th e ratin g scale) with other desirable characters (Efron et al. 1989).Figure 18 Reaction to MSV (left to right). Susceptible ( 5), moderately resistant (3), and resistant (1). Ratings are based on the visual rating scale (Table 3)The host plants used for rearing shou ld be free from other insects , hence they should be grown inside a screen house to avoid pest infestation. Insects which might be problematic include whiteflies, aphids, leaf beetles, planthoppers, and lepidopterous la rvae . Manual removal of insects is often effective. If an infestation develops, it might be necessary to discard the plant batch or to spray a shortterm action insecticide , such as malathion. Spraying should be done outside the screenhouse, and the plants left for 1-2 weeks prior to their use for Cicadulina rearing. Large populations of aphids on millet seed lings have been effectively controlled in the past, using a coccinellid beetle, Chilomenes sulphureus (IITA 1987).Mass production of Cicadulina leafhoppers may be comp licated by:(a) presence of natural enemies inside the rearing cages;(b) temperature fluctuation during winter months or at high elevation.Like other insects, leafhoppers are attacked by predators and parasitoids . Ants, spiders, and lizards are common predators of Cicadulina nymphs and adults. In addition, there is a mirid bug , which is an egg predator. Ants can be kept off from the rearing cages by placing a water pan with water and kerosine or oil under the legs of the tables.The common parasitoids of Cicadulina leafhoppers are a hymenopterous wasp (Oryinid ae) and a dipteran fly (Pipunculidae). Sometimes, they can seriously affect mass production. Regular inspections by an entomologist should be carried out. Once it is noticed that a rearing cage has been infested wi th parasitoids or mirid bugs, it is advisable to discard the insects and , if necessary , also the plants and soil in the cages. The cages should be cleaned thoroughly and left empty for some days. If all the cages are severely infested, then it is advisable to discard the entire co lony and start with a new colony as described in Figure 9. Alternatively, 200-300 healthy males and females can be collected from the cages to start a new colony .In countries with severe winter, the temperature fluctuation during the winter months may affect the mass rearing of Cicadulina leafhoppers. Where the night temperature drops below 15\"C, special arrangements should be made to increase the temperature in the screen house . Low temperature will affect the leafhoppers as well as the germination and growth of the host plants. To augment the night temperature in the screen house during winter months, the sides of the screenhouse should be covered at night with clear plastiC sheeting. During daytime, the plastic sheeting should be rolled and tied up for cross ventilation. In addition, supplementary heating can be obtained from a kerosine burner or an electric heater (where electric power supply is available). The rearing cages can also be covered with plastic sheets at night.Cicadulina leafhoppers belong to two categories: active transmitters of MSV and nonactive transmitters (Storey 1932). This character is genetically controlled. When mass rearing Cicadulina leafhoppers, it is important to maintain a high percentage (60-80%)of active transmitters in the colony. This will reduce the number of insects required for infestation of each plant, ultimately resulting in more plants being infested using the same number of leafhoppers. But it will require periodical quality control.To test the proportion of active transmitters, about 50-100 female leafhoppers should be collected from a nymphal rearing cage and released for 48 h into a small cage with streak-infested maize plants. The females should then be caged singly with 5 to 7-day old potted maize plants susceptible to MSV, using PVC cages (Fig. 7). About 7-10 days later, the numberof plants showing streak symptoms should be observed and the percentage of transmission should be calculated . If the percentage of transmission is below 35 , a new colony of active transmitters should be initiated, by putting together the progeny of those females that transmitted MSV. Also , plants showing MSV symptoms from the transmission test shou ld be placed together in a cage for egg hatching and nymphal development. Within 3 weeks, the nymphs will develop into adults and the new colony of the leafhoppers should have a higher proportion of active transmitters. The new colony can be used to build up the population of active transmitters. The percentage of active transmitters in the colony should be checked twice a year.Trainees listen to liT A scientist (third from left) explaining mass rearing techniquesTo meet the needs and circumstances of national programs and private seed companies, modifications to the described techniques might be needed.Entomologists setting up Cicadufina rearing facilities should be able to adapt the techniques developed at IITA to fit their own conditions. IITA scientists are available to assist national programs in developing Cicadulina rearing facilities.The Togolese national program developed leafhopper rearing facilities with assistance from IITA and Centro Internacional de Mejoramiento de Maiz y Trigo (CIMMYT) and modified the infestation method to their needs. The national program of Zaire and CIMMYT's mid-altitude station in Harare , Zimbabwe, were assisted by IITA to develop their rearing facilities. For the latter two countries, modifications were needed to ensure survival of the insect colonies during the cold winter months. IITA is also assisting the national programs of Ghana and Cameroon to develop their leafhopper rearing facilities. "}

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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"9b7ab144bc2b9a09f1de8af3caa62390","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/cb306d05-78e0-43df-b13f-330c2d8a54dc/retrieve","id":"2027545745"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"f471cf2a-6168-4cec-8cf7-6b3d4e2a2225","content":"Poverty measurement in low and middle income countries (LMICs) has always been challenging, especially among rural households whose incomes are characterized by seasonality, informality and some degree of subsistence consumption. During the COVID-19 pandemic poverty measurement became even more challenging as research had to resort phone surveys, who necessary brevity precludes the use of detailed household expenditure modules preferred in rural settings. Phone surveys instead typically resorted to qualitative questions on income losses and other welfare impacts of economic shocks. Here we use the new nationally representative Myanmar Household Welfare Survey (MHWS) to experiment with three kinds of poverty measures: (1) Asset poverty (10 questions); (2) Income poverty (a maximum of 17 questions); and (3) Food expenditure poverty (based on 4 questions). We first describe the methods for constructing these three indicators -including the poverty lines used for income and food poverty -and their conceptual strengths and weaknesses, before turning to a descriptive analysis of their geographical patterns, their associations with each other and with expenditure-based poverty in the last national survey in 2017. We then test their ability to predict poor diet quality and experiences of hunger, which -based on previous studies -are outcomes that ought to be highly sensitive to household poverty. We draw three important conclusions for measuring poverty in phone surveys. First, asset poverty and income poverty are strongly associated with each other, and with state/region poverty patterns of expenditure-based poverty in 2017. Second, asset poverty was consistently the strongest predictor of poor diet diversity among adults and children, as well as food insecurity at the household level, but income poverty also predicted these outcomes even after controlling for asset poverty. Third, we argue that phone surveys should measure both asset and income poverty, but should likely steer clear of food expenditure measures, which will either require overly long survey instruments, or very short questionnaires susceptible to underestimate of expenditure and overestimation of poverty. However, asset and income poverty are relatively quick and easy to measure, and conceptual complements to each other: income poverty is likely to be sensitive to shocks and seasonality, while asset poverty is insensitive to these fluctuations but captures long-term wealth. Finally, another important benefit of measuring income poverty is its ability to capture the effects of inflationary shocks, as inflation can affect both nominal incomes (e.g. through unemployment) as well as through the analyst's price adjustments to the real food poverty line.Poverty measurement in low and middle income countries (LMICs) has always been challenging, especially among rural households whose incomes are characterized by seasonality, informality and some degree of subsistence consumption (Deaton and Zaidi, 2002). During the COVID-19 pandemic poverty measurement became even more challenging as researchers had to switch to phone or other online surveys, who necessary brevity precludes the use of detailed household expenditure modules preferred in rural settings.Monitoring poverty via phone surveys is very challenging, however, especially as the preferred expenditure-based modules for measure poverty in more rural settings are prohibitively long for phone surveys (Deaton and Zaidi, 2002). Asset-based wealth measures (Filmer and Pritchett, 2001) and multi-dimensional poverty meausres (Alkire and Foster, 2011) are relatively short and easy to measure, but are generally not sensitive to shocks (e.g. people do not give up housing characteristics when economic conditions deteriorate), and cut-off lines for describing a household as income-poor or multi-dimensionally poor are somewhat arbitrary. Asset-based poverty measures and multi-dimensional poverty measures therefore tend to be good proxies for long term wealth or socioeconomic status, but not for short term variations in economic conditions in the wake of the kinds of severe economic shocks that have hit LMICs in recent years, including COVID-19 shocks but also conflict, political instability and inflation.As a result of these poverty measurement challenges, most phone surveys conducted during COVID-19 only asked qualitative questions about whether the household experienced income changes relative to pre-COVID periods (Amare et al., 2020;Egger et al., 2021;Gourlay et al., 2021). Qualitative questions on income losses offer limited information, however, because they say little about the specific depth of income losses, or whether a household is poor after the event of an income loss (i.e. a wealth household could lose more than 20 percent of its income but would clearly avoid becoming poor).However, a previous 10-round panel phone survey of approximately 2000 households conducted in Myanmar by The International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) from June 2020 to December 2021 used both a simple asset-count measure of poverty (the number of different assets owned by a household) and an even simpler income-based measure asking each respondent to estimate total household income in the past month (Headey et al., 2022). Assetbased poverty from that survey was a strong predictor of child diet quality and food insecurity experiences, and the income-based poverty measure also showed plausible variation with the timing of various COVID shocks as well as disastrous economic impacts of the military takeover in February 2021. Indeed, another study based on that survey showed that inter-round fluctuations in this income-based poverty measure were strongly correlated with Google's consumer mobility index (Headey et al., 2021), suggesting this very simple poverty measure did a reasonably good job of tracking poverty, though perhaps more so in urban areas (Yangon).In this study we use new data from the sub-nationally representative Myanmar Household Welfare Survey (MHWS) conducted between December 2021 and February 2022 (Figure 1) to describe and test three alternative measures of poverty: (1) a new asset-based poverty measure based on a count of 10 statistically \"relevant\" assets; (2) an income-based poverty estimated from an expanded module on different income sources, including net remittances received; (3) a food expenditure-based poverty measure based on four questions on estimates of four types aggregated food expenditures (e.g. purchased, own-farm, et cetera). The objectives of the research are threefold. First, we set out to describe spatial patterns of the three poverty measures in order to inform policymakers about poverty and vulnerability in different regions, and gauge the correlations between the three measures, as well as their correlations with official poverty rates in 2017 (based on an in-person survey and expenditurebased poverty calculations). Second, we set out to test the explanatory power of the three MHWS poverty measures by assessing their ability to predict poor diet diversity among adults and young children, as well as experience-based household food insecurity indicators. The rationale for this test of predictive power is that we know from extensive previous research that as incomes increase, households and individuals diverse their diets (Choudhury et al., 2019;Subramanian and Deaton, 1996); and conversely, as incomes decline due to shocks, people cut back on consumption of high-value nutrient dense foods (Block et al. 2004). Thus, we argue that a good poverty indicator should be able to predict whether or not individuals have poor diets, or whether households report food insecurity experiences.The remainder of this paper is structured as follows. Sections 2, 3 and 4 respectively describe the construction of asset-, income-and food expenditure-based poverty measures, as well as their distributions and geographical patterns. Section 5 looks at the question of \"validation\", albeit very imperfect validation based on associations and predictive power rather than true validation per se. This section firstly examines correlations between the three MHWS poverty measures, as well as their basic state/region level correlation with expenditure-based poverty in 2017 from the last national in-personal survey conducted in Myanmar. It then uses multi-variate regressions to see how well the three MHWS poverty measures predict inadequate diet diversity for adults and young children, as well as household food insecurity (hunger) experiences. Section 6 concludes with remarks on the implications of our findings for poverty measurement in the context of phone surveys. In short, we conclude that phone surveys should try to measure both asset-poverty (or multi-dimensional poverty) as well as income-based poverty, as the two are likely complements to one another. Assets capture long-term wealth that is relatively insensitive to short term shocks, where as real income and income-based poverty captures seasonal fluctuations, the impacts of recent income shocks, including inflationary shocks to disposable income. Both measures are also practical in that they can be measured with relatively short modules.We measure the poverty of households by a simple count of the number of \"assets\" they own, with ten assets in total: flush toilet, improved water source (piped into house or bottled water), improved housing (semi-pucca, bungalow/brick, apartment/condominium), grid-based electricity (not solar), rice cooker, fridge, TV, wardrobe, car/motorcycle/tuk-tuk and working computer/laptop/iPad. These assets were selected for the survey based on principal components analysis (PCA) of two previous national in-person surveys in Myanmar, the 2015-16 Demographic Health Survey (MOHS and ICF-International, 2017) and the 2017 Myanmar Living Conditions Survey (CSO et al., 2019). We then identified which assets or housing characteristics had the highest weights (or \"loadings) in the PCA for each survey, implying that these were variables with strong power for explaining latent wealth. We also tried to choose a range of assets that would distinguish extreme poverty from moderate poverty, but also moderate wealth from higher household wealth (with the latter more likely to own computers/iPads, for example). As expected, given our pre-MHWS analyses on the DHS and MLCS assets, when we conduct a PCA on the 10 assets chosen for the MHWS we find relatively high loadings (weights) on the first principal component, which explains 33 percent of the total variance (Table 1).  1 could be used to construct a wealth index and wealth quintiles, wealth quintiles only offer an ordinal ranking of wealth, whereas our goal here was to offer an indicator of asset poverty in more absolute terms. However, the relative similarity of loadings in Table 1 arguably provides a justification for constructing a simple count measure of assets owned, even though we make no assumption about the monetary value of these assets.After constructing a simple count of the ten assets, the households were categorized into three groups based on the number of assets: asset-poor (0-3 assets), asset-low (4-6 assets) and assetrich (7-10 assets). The cut-offs are somewhat arbitrary and there may be few observable differences between a household that owns three assets and a household that owns four assets, but the same is true of monetary poverty lines in income or expenditure-based poverty measures.Figure 2 shows a histogram of the distribution of asset ownership. Income or expenditure distributions are typically log normal. The distribution of assets owned also has a thin tail -there are not many asset-rich households -but the bulk of the distribution is in the asset-middle grouping of 4-6 assets, although there are still larger number of Myanmar households owning 0-3 assets.Notes. Sample size is 12,100 households from the MHWS Figure 3 shows the distribution of asset poverty levels by state/region and rural/urban. Nationally, 43 percent of households are asset-poor and 42 percent are asset-low while only 15 percent of households are asset-rich. Among the states and regions, we found that Ayeyarwady is poorest, with 70 percent of households in Ayeyarwady asset-poor. Similarly, asset-poor states are Chin and Rakhine. At the other extreme, households in Yangon region are much less likely to be assetpoor (21 percent) though half of the households were asset-low and Yangon had by far the largest share of asset-rich households (29 percent). Mandalay (which includes rural Mandalay) also had relatively low poverty, as did Nay Pyi Taw. Unsurprisingly, then, urban households are much less likely to be asset-poor (33 percent) than rural households at the national level (53 percent). Overall, the spatial distribution of asset-poverty in Figure 2 looks very plausible, although one potential concern is that asset-indices tend to be \"urban biased\" because the assets measured may not reflect farm-based wealth (Rutstein and Staveteig, 2013). Also, five of the 10 assets are electricitydependent, so not having reliable access to electricity could potentially exacerbate inter-household differences in wealth.  We measured income-based poverty status through five steps. First, we asked respondents to estimate total household income in the past month from 15 different economic activities 1 plus net remittances received. Second, daily income per adult equivalent was estimated from the total monthly income aggregate and household size adjusted for demographic composition using standard adult equivalency scales. Third, the national food-based poverty line from the first quarter of 2017 -which was 1,037 kyat (CSO et al., 2019) -was updated first with the official food CPI until mid-2020, and then with a MAPSA food price index from a national survey of food vendors (MAPSA, 2022a). The resulting updated food poverty line for December 2021 was 1,489 kyat per person per day. Fourth, we applied a spatial deflator to adjust food prices for rural and urban areas within each state/region based on price information from the MAPSA food vendor survey. 2 Results for this food poverty line are shown in Figure 4, which confirms the generally much higher price of food in urban areas. Not making this adjustment could therefore seriously bias poverty comparisons across states/regions and different types of households. Finally, we applied the ratio of the 2017 nonfood poverty (533 kyat) to the 2017 food poverty line (1,037) kyat to the updated food poverty lines in Figure 4. In effect, we assume -through necessity -that the relationship between food and non-food prices in spatially the same in 2021/2022 as it was in 1 These economic activities are described in the survey design report (MAPSA 2022), but are: 1 = wage work-crop farming; 2 = wage work-livestock; 3 = wage work -fishing/aquaculture; 4 = wage work -non-agriculture; 5 = salaried work-crop farming; 6 = salaried work-livestock; 7 = salaried work -fishing/aquaculture; 8 = salaried work-non-agriculture; 9 = work on household crop farm (seasonal/perennial crops); 10 = own or household livestock business; 11 = own or household fishing or aquaculture business; 12 = own or a household non-farm enterprise (including any small business activities); 13 = renting out of land / properties; 14 = gifts, donations, pensions, assistance; 15 = remittances. Remittances were further adjusted for any money sent by the household to individuals outside the household to generate net remittances received. 2 Due to small sample sizes in the MAPSA Food Vendor Survey for Kayin and Kayah, price indices were merged for these two regions, separately for rural and urban areas.  Figure 5 reports a kernel density plot of the distribution of income per adult equivalent. As expected, the distribution is log-normal with a long thin tail of higher income households, but the bulk of the distribution relatively poor, earning less than 8,000 kyat per day (or about USD 4.50). Figure 6 reports spatial patterns in this income-based poverty indicator. Nationally, nearly half of households (46 percent) are income-poor by this measure. Chin state (68 percent of households) is the poorest followed by Kachin (59 percent), Rakhine (58 percent), Kayin (57 percent) and Shan (East) states (51 percent). Ayeyarwady -which had the highest asset-poverty -is also income-poor (47 percent). Although Yangon and Kayah are much less likely to incomepoor compared to other states/regions, one-third of households are still poor (38 percent and 34 percent respectively). Rural households (48 percent) are more likely to be income-poor compared to urban households (43 percent), but the rural-urban poverty gap for the income measure is much smaller than it is for the asset measure. However, it should be noted that this first round of MHWS was conducted just after Myanmar's main harvest season, so farmer incomes may be relatively high at this time of year, and subsequent rounds in 2022 may shed light on how ruralurban income gaps vary by season. For in-person surveys in heavily agrarian economies expenditure-based poverty measurement is preferred, but this usually entails as many as 100 or more questions on spending for a detailed list of food and nonfood items. Since this was clearly not feasible in a phone survey, we experimented with a very abridged module based of 7-day recall estimates for the total household expenditure on four means of acquiring food: (1) markets and stores; (2) food from restaurants and other prepared meals;(3) food from their own farm; and (4) food obtained as in-kind wage or free. The same food poverty line, as described above, was used to define food expenditure Share of income-poor households poverty. The household was defined as food-poor if they spent less than the food poverty line defined above, which was 1,489 kyat at the national level but adjusted for rural and urban areas within each state/region (as reported above in Figure 3).Figure 7 reports a kernel density plot of the distribution of food expenditure per adult equivalent along with the 1,489 kyat per day food poverty line. Like the income estimates, food expenditure has a log-normal distribution, and the majority of households appear to spend less on food than the 1,489 khat poverty line. Also, as expected, the right tail of distribution is shorter than the income distribution. Estimates of food poverty expenditure poverty are reported in Figure 5, and are strikingly high: more than half of households (61 percent) are food-poor. Like income-based poverty, rural households (63 percent) are more likely to food-poor than urban households (57 percent). Magway region (78 percent) experienced food-poverty most, followed by Shan (South) (74 percent), Kayah (69 percent) and Ayeyarwady (67 percent). Though households in Kayin State and Tanintharyi region are less food-poor than other states and regions, nearly half experienced food-poverty (48 percent and 43 percent correspondingly). It is also notable that the pattern of food expenditure poverty across states/regions is quite different to the patterns observed for asset poverty and income poverty. That, together with the very high levels of food poverty observed, casts some doubt on the accuracy of the food expenditure poverty measure. With such aggregated food categories (just four), it is likely that it is computationally difficult for respondents to recall all food expenditures, and convert own farm consumption into value terms, leading to under-estimation of food expenditures. It is challenging to \"validate\" any particular poverty measure, especially in the current Myanmar context, for several reasons.First, validation requires comparison to a gold standard, but there is neither any conceptual agreement among poverty economists on what constitutes \"true\" poverty nor any real empirical gold standard. On the conceptual front, for example, the World Bank and others have historically advocated monetary poverty measures, but other research and institutions have advocated multidimensional poverty indices, and there are many disagreements and debates on the virtues of both measures (Alkire and Foster, 2011;Ravallion, 2010Ravallion, , 2011)). Since monetary and multidimensional indices are conceptually very different from other, it is also not necessarily the case that they should be highly correlated with each other, especially in the context of seasonal income variations.Second, in the context of phone surveys -which have limitations related to selection biases but perhaps also other response biases (Brubaker et al., 2021;Gourlay et al., 2021) -it would be ideal to \"validate\" phone-based poverty indicators against indicators derived from in-person surveys. However, the last national in-person survey in Myanmar was the 2017 Myanmar Living Conditions Survey (MLCS). The MLCS was itself imperfect in terms of spatial coverage and sampling (particularly in Rakhine), but more importantly Myanmar has experienced severe COVID Share of food-poor households shocks in 2020 followed by an economic collapse in the way of the February 2021 military takeover, with the economy projected to have collapsed by almost 20 percent in 2022. These shocks were profound, destroying livelihoods, businesses and even whole sectors (e.g. tourism), as well as catalyzing large scale internal and international migration. Thus, patterns of poverty in 2022 could be very different from patterns of poverty in 2017, even with the same sample and the same poverty indicator.Third, different poverty measures may be useful for different purposes. Asset-based indices were developed to measure latent wealth (Filmer and Pritchett, 2001), which is likely quite fixed in the short to medium term, but assets/wealth was shown to be a strong predictor of other outcomes, like educational attainment and health and nutrition outcomes (Choudhury et al., 2019;Filmer and Pritchett, 2001;Filmer and Scott, 2012;Harttgen et al., 2013;Hjelm et al., 2016;Sahn and Stifel, 2003). However, as noted in the introduction, asset ownership/scores rarely decline, and are unlikely to be appropriate for gauging the impacts of shocks. More shock-sensitive poverty measures are therefore desirable in many contexts, particularly in Myanmar's very volatile economic and political situation.Bearing in mind that it is impossible to engage in any strict validation of these measures, we still consider it important to pose three questions of them: One might reasonably conjecture that a poverty indicator that was weakly correlated with other indicators is suspicious, while one would also expect well-performing indicators of poverty to be strong predictors of inadequately diverse diets or food security. Previous research has shown, for example, that asset indicators are strong predictors of inadequate diet diversity in children (Choudhury et al., 2019), but also that in the face of severe income shocks -such as the 1998 Indonesian financial crisis -household and individual dietary diversity declines sharply (Block et al., 2004). The ability of different kinds of poverty or socioeconomic measure to predict experience-based food indicators is less well understood (Headey and Ecker, 2013;Hjelm et al., 2016), but also worthy of further exploration.Table 2 compares state/region and rural/urban poverty headcounts for the three MHWS measures for 2021-2022 and the 2017 MLCS expenditure-based measure derived from a detailed expenditure module applied to a nationally representative in-person survey (CSO et al., 2019). There is no particular reason to expect levels of poverty to be similar across surveys, for the reasons outlined above, including the severe deterioration in living standards in Myanmar over 2020-2022. That said, expenditure poverty in the 2017 MLCS is much lower than it is for the three MHWS measures (25 percent), but also shows a striking disparity in rural (30.2 percent) and urban (11.3 percent) poverty rates. That disparity remains true for the asset-based poverty indicator, though much less so for the income and food poverty measures from MHWS. Patterns across states/regions are also interesting. Table 3 reports correlations between the four indicators at the state/region level (albeit from a very small sample of 15-17 states/regions). Asset-based and income-based poverty headcounts at the state-region level are highly correlated with each other (0.66) and also with MLCS 2017 expenditure-based poverty (0.72 and 0.70), but food poverty patterns by state/region share no significant correlation with other measures. Table 4 reports correlations at the household level (N=12,100) for the three MHWS poverty measures. Asset and income-based poverty have a moderately strong correlation (0.22), but asset poverty and food poverty are more weakly correlated (0.09), though food poverty and income poverty are more strongly correlated (0.24). In summary, the MHWS food poverty measure seems to have weaker associations with other poverty measures compared to the asset and income-based poverty measures. Each adult respondent was asked about the foods they consumed in the past 24 hours using the Minimum Dietary Diversity for women (MDD-W) module (Arimond et al., 2010), while caregivers of infants 6-23 months (if present in a household) were also asked about food groups consumed in the past 24 hours (FANTA, 2006). MDD-W was asked of men and women (with approximately equal sample sizes) and poor diet diversity was defined as <5 of 10 food groups, while poor diet diversity in infants 6-23 months was defined as <4 of 7 food groups.Figure 9 reports regional patterns of inadequate diet diversity in adults, but also differences by poverty status for each of the three poverty indicators. Notably, the regional patterns broadly resemble the patterns of asset poverty and to some extent income poverty. The highest prevalence of inadequate diet diversity was found in asset-poorest states/regions such as Chin, Rakhine and Ayeyarwady. Consistent with that pattern, asset-based poverty does the best in identifying poor adult diets, followed by income-based poverty. The prevalence of adult poor diets in asset-poor households (29 percent) is almost double of those in asset not poor households (16 percent). Similarly, income-poor adults (25 percent) are more likely to have poor diets than income not poor adults (18 percent). Differences between food-poor and food-nonpoor are more modest (24 vs 18 percent).In case of youngest children, Figure 10 shows that 2 out of 5 children have inadequate diets and rural children (43 percent) had much worse dietary diversity than urban children (31 percent). Similar as adults, children in asset-poor households were far more likely to have poor diets than those in nonpoor households. The prevalence of child poor diets in income-poor households (46 percent) was 14 points higher than those in income-not-poor households (32 percent), while children from food-poor households were 9 points more likely to have poor diets than children from non-poor households. While these bivariate relationships between poverty status and inadequate diet diversity are interesting, it is also important to assess their predictive power in a multivariate regression framework. We therefore estimated linear probability models or inadequate dietary status against poverty status and other expected predictors of diet quality, including state/region fixed effects. Panel A shows that asset poverty status is the single strongest predictor of inadequate diet diversity among adults, increasing the risk by almost 10 percentage points. However, even in the same regression model both income poverty and food poverty predict 4-5 point increases in the risks of adequate diets. The effects are stronger than that of low education. Individuals from households that migrated in the last 2 years are also at higher risk of poor diets, but perhaps surprisingly, individuals from farm households and larger families are at lower risk. In Panel B we observe that asset poverty is again a very strong predictor of poor dietary diversity among infants 6-24 months of age, predict a 16-point risk increase. Income poverty predicts a 9-point increase (significant at the 4 percent level), but food poverty is not significantly associated with inadequate diets. Interestingly, farm households again have a lower risk of having infants with poor diet diversity.Table 5 reports the share of households reporting food insecurity experiences from the Household Hunger Scale by poverty status and rural/urban status. The HHS asks the respondent whether any individual in the household experienced no food to eat, going to sleep without eating at night, or going to sleep without eating a whole day and night, and these measures have been validated for cross-cultural use (Deitchler et al., 2011). These measures capture increasingly severe food insecurity experiences.Consistent with that intention, 12 percent of households reported experiences of having no food to eat in the past 4 weeks, while 5 percent and 2 percent reporting members sleeping without eating at night or going a whole day without eating. Consistent with results for the inadequate dietary diversity measures, we observe large differences in food insecurity between asset-poor and non-poor households, but also income-poor and non-poor households. In contrast, food poverty differentials are very modest. Figure 12 reports coefficient plots with 95 percent confidence intervals for the same regression models used for inadequate diet diversity, but with experiences of hunger as the dependent variables. Similar patterns emerge: asset poverty is the strongest predictor of poverty, but income poverty also has highly significant predicted effects on hunger experiences, while food poverty coefficients are never statistically significant. We also again find that, controlling for rural residence, farm households are less likely to experience food insecurity. COVID-19 was a catalyst for a vast number of phone surveys aimed at tracking the welfare impacts of an unprecedented global economic shock. However, while phone surveys have some advantages, the shorter nature of phone surveys limits their ability to conduct detailed modules on many facets of household welfare, including the household expenditure modules preferred for poverty measurement (Gourlay et al. 2021). COVID-19 phone surveys instead relied shorter qualitative questions on income losses, employment impacts or patterns of consumption changes. Qualitative questions on income losses provide an idea of the prevalence of income losses but not the depth of loss, or the poverty status of households in the wake of income losses. Another limitation -particularly in the context of Myanmar, which has experienced two years of multiple economic shocks -is that qualitative questions on income relative to 12 months ago, for example, are of little use, since the economic situation 12 months ago was also bad.Given these limitations, this study experimented with three types of alternative poverty measures. The first was an adaptation of asset or wealth indices, which typically use principal components analysis to create ordinal wealth quintiles. We used an alternative approach by first using previous surveys to identify relevant assets, and then creating a simple country measure and imposing an arbitrary poverty line. While this approach is simple, simplicity and brevity are a virtue in phone surveys, and we show -consistent with many other studies of asset-based measures (cited above) -that this simple measure is consistently the strongest predictor of poor diets and experiences of hunger. The reasons are likely twofold. First, asset questions (and asset counts) are effectively unaffected by measurement error, so there is little or no scope for -.05 0 .05 .1 Risk of sleeping without eating whole day attenuation bias, especially when the assets were in some sense pre-tested within previous surveys. Second, assets are indeed likely to be a good predictor of long-term latent wealth, and assets and wealth are understandably a source of resilience even if incomes are falling or fluctuating.We also tried -perhaps naively -to follow another longstanding convention in household surveys in high rural settings: to measure expenditure, rather than income, as a basis for identifying the poor. However, the time limitations of a phone survey meant that we could only measure food expenditure through a series of four questions that likely required an excessive amount of mental arithmetic on the part of respondents. Moreover, short expenditure lists from inperson surveys are known to lead to under-estimation of total expenditure, so it is not surprising that highly aggregated questions on food expenditure in MHWS led to significant underestimation of total food expenditure and over-estimation of food poverty, as well as white noise-type error. We recommend avoiding this kind of measure, and instead focusing on the simpler dietary diversity and experiential food insecurity questions to capture issues related to food consumption. However, although income-based poverty measures are typically unfavored with in-person surveys (Deaton, 1997;Deaton and Zaidi, 2002), this study found that they are likely quite well suited to phone surveys as a second-best measure, even in rural settings. For despite the predictive power of the asset count measure, we found that an income poverty measure also had significant predictive power in explaining poor diets and hunger experiences. In that sense, income poverty -which we expect to fluctuate over time, especially in rural areas, and in the face of multiple economic shocks -may be a relevant complement to longer term asset-based indicators. Another virtue was this measure of income was also reasonably quick to implement, and the module used to measure different income sources can also be used to identify different types of livelihoods, and measure income diversification, which may also be important for resilience to shocks.Finally, a truly critical virtue of income-based poverty is that it can factor in the effects of inflation (which asset-based measure cannot) through the updating of the poverty line as well as any indirect effects on nominal incomes. This feature is extremely important given that nominal food prices in Myanmar have risen by 41% between March 2021 and March 2022 (MAPSA 2022c). More generally, though, many other developing countries are also facing very high rates of inflation on the back of high fuel prices and the tailwinds of COVID-19 disruptions (Vos et al. 2022). On these grounds we recommend that income and income-based poverty be more regularly incorporated into phone surveys, especially since phone surveys are cost-effective enough to be implemented at a higher frequency compared to in-person surveys. In those circumstances, the volatility of household income over seasons and aftershocks are a virtue, not a limitation, of income-based indicators."}