1. Africa RISING: an overview
Bekele Hundie Kotu
Study to Monitor Adoption of Africa RISING Technologies
Training of Field Staff
July 29- August 2, 2015
Tamale

2. What does the name imply?
Africa: Research In Sustainable Intensification for the Next Generation:- Africa RISING
What is it?
Africa RISING (AR) is a research-for-development program.
It comprises three projects in different parts of Africa

3. Sustainable intensification of in cereal-based farming systems of the Guinea-Sudano-Savanna of West Africa (Ghana and Mali)-Led by IITA
Sustainable intensification of cereal-legume-livestock integrated farming systems in East and Southern Africa (Tanzania, Malawi, and Zambia)-Led by IITA
Sustainable intensification of crop-livestock integrated farming systems in the Ethiopian highlands (Ethiopia) –Led by ILRI

4. Who are the participants?
Who is the donor?
AR is supported by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) as part of the U.S. government’s Feed the Future initiative.
Who are the participants?
AR is a collaborative research-for-development program implemented by international research institutions, national research institutions, other development partners.

5. What is the goal of the project?
In Ghana collaborating institutions include: IITA, IFPRI, CIAT, AVRDC, ILRI, SARI, ARI,, ILRI, UDS, KNUST, MOFA
What is the goal of the project?
The overall aim is to provide pathways out of hunger and poverty for smallholder families through sustainable intensification of farming systems
When did it start?
AR was launched in The first experiments in Ghana were conducted in 2013

6. Research Hypotheses
Integration hypothesis: Integrating technological components into SI systems confers more benefits to smallholder farmers than single components.
Adoption hypothesis: Integrating technological components into SI systems stimulates more adoption compared to single components.
Trade-off hypothesis: Effective targeting of innovations reduces the negative impacts of trade-offs between farm productivity and environmental sustainability and helps to identify potential “win-win” options for SI.

7. Scalability hypothesis: Agricultural SI interventions that are tailored to diverse local conditions on smallholder farms are more likely to be scalable to similar populations and environmental settings.
Innovation sequencing hypothesis: The adoption of innovations that lead to SI is affected by the sequence in which the component technologies, practices, and knowledge are integrated and applied

8. Sustainable intensification: the core agenda in AR
Sustainability:
Benefiting the current generation with no/minimal adverse affects to the next generation
Agricultural intensification:
Agricultural intensification can be defined as an increase in agricultural production per unit of inputs (which may be labour, land, time, fertilizer, seed, feed or cash)’ (FAO, 2004).

9. Sustainable intensification:
Defined as ‘producing more output from the same area of land while reducing the negative environmental impacts and at the same time increasing contributions to natural capital and the flow of environmental services
AR considers three types of SI
Genetic intensification: the use of varieties/breeds with more desirable traits (e.g. yield, disease resistance, etc)

10. Ecological intensification: undertaking more agricultural practices with no/minimal adverse effects on the environment or natural resource base (e.g. integrated pest management, integrated soil fertility management)
Socio-economic intensification: the existence of more and more efficient and integrative institutions to facilitate commercialization (e.g. the existence of good market institutions)

11. Project areas in Ghana

12. Areas of Research in Ghana
Partnerships and socioeconomics Analysis
Intensification of cereal-legume-vegetable cropping systems
Intensive livestock and crop-livestock systems
Land, soil and water management
Nutrition, food storage, value addition and mycotoxin management

13. Scope of research
More than 70 research and development activities are underway this year
Crops covered include: Maize, Rice, Soybean, groundnut, cowpea, Vegetables (okra, pepper, rozell, eggplant), sesame
Livestock include: poultry, sheep and goats, and pigs

14. T1: Socio-economic, Partnerships and R4D Platforms
Training
Adoption constraints
Training
Adoption constraints
Rainwater harvesting
Adoption constraints
Community based Orgs
Market
linkages
Communication
Partnerships
Gender
Partnerships
Communication
Gender
T4: Land,
Soils and
Water
T2: Crops
T3: Fodder
L/Stock
T5: Nutrition
-Animal manure
-Feed production
-Feed conservation
-Nutrient studies
-Fodder Irrigation
-Education
-Conduct in crop trials
-Nutrient dynamics
-Soil conservation
-Safety
-Quality of feed
-Quality of food
-Veg. irrigation
-Nutrient management
-Production
-Processing
-Post harvest issues

16. Research approach
A participatory research approach is promoted in Africa RISING.
Farmers participate in two types of trials in Ghana, namely mother trials and baby trials.
Mother trials constitute almost all trials to be conducted in each community.
They serve as demonstration and training sites for farmers.

17. Mother trials are managed by a group of voluntary farmers with a close guidance of researchers.
Baby trials constitute a few technologies chosen by farmers from mother trials to try in their fields.
They are managed by farmers with a little guidance of researchers.
Some of the baby trials are now on upscaling stage whereby farmers apply the technologies on bigger fields.

18. Thank You