“Today I’m very happy to see the research outcomes on soil and water management practices reflected on the field, and to hear from the farmers how they appreciated the contribution of researchers. This is very significant for us and easy to scale out in the future. In this regard, Humidtropics and its Partners CIP, ILRI and IWMI did a very good job and served their purpose of striving to change lives, in particular in the areas where there are critical problems in natural resource management and shortage of fodder to feed livestock in the dry season†Dr. Hirpa Legesse, Wolega University, and member of Humidtropics’ local Technical Committee.
Following the implementation of improved maize, feed, sweet potato and teff production earlier in 2014, a Humidtropics team, composed of scientists and researchers from CIP, ILRI and IWMI organized a field visit in late September, and an Innovation Platform meeting in Diga Woreda, Western Oromia, Ethiopia. The team visited Field Sites to evaluate the status of the projects, their contribution to improving agricultural productivity and natural resource management, to identify gaps and look for alternatives for the next cropping season. They took this opportunity to invite local stakeholders from government offices, research and academic institutions to witness the high performance and biomass of these improved crops compared to the traditional ones.
The difference between traditional maize (left) and maize improved by trace, splinted every three meters, with Desho grass to protect erosion (right). Water, carrying fertilizer collected in the terrace from the left plot, enters into the trace and infiltrates the right plot, thus contributing to the good performance of the maize.
A total of 105 farmers are involved in the maize, fodder, sweet potato and teff interventions. It is expected that they will benefit from better yields, increased soil fertility and more efficient water management in all aspects of the interventions. Nearby farmers, also invited to join the field visit, were impressed with the preliminary results and expressed the desire to be included in future interventions scheduled to begin with the next cropping season.
Dr. Teklu Erkossa, Researcher, IWMI, presenting the implementation status of the interventions, new initiatives and opportunities to improve soil fertility and crop yields.
The Innovation Platform meeting took place the next day and brought together more than 40 representatives from farmers, research institutions, academia, development agents and government offices to discuss the interventions and observations from the field visits. Presentations were made on the status of implementation, their economic and nutrition impacts, new initiatives and opportunities to improve soil fertility, yields and income of smallholders, erosion reduction and fodder shortage. FEAST* assessments were presented in three areas of the lowlands (Humbo, Dabo and Dembi) and legume choice potentials to scale up feed conservation were also explored.
In his opening remarks, Mr. Ulfina Shiferaw, Diga Wereda Administrator said “The preliminary assessments and observations showing that efforts putting place to support farmers to conserve natural resources and improve agricultural productivity are bringing significant changes in vegetation performance, soil fertility and water management in the intervention sites. These facts are reflections of collective actions taken jointly by all concerned bodiesâ€. To this end, he invited participants to work in synergy and coordination to pave the way towards sustainable management of land and water, as well as food security.
Stakeholders discussed the principles of systems intensification, which promotes innovation practices in line with integrated systems improvement – including soil fertility to increase crop yield, livestock productivity and water management – with the objective of improving the livelihoods of smallholder farming communities while preserving natural resources for future generations. The following questions were also addressed: What has been done since commencement of interventions? What are the achievements and challenges? What needs to be improved and how to develop a joint vision for improvements?
Traditional (left) and improved (right) sweet potatoes.
Participants concluded that all interventions (maize, livestock feeds, sweet potato and teff) were well received by farmers, and have shown positive impacts on yields and soil fertility, creating high expectations of gaining better crop yields and fodder for livestock. In order to do so, some challenges need to be tackled, such as lack of farm management practices, dalliance of plantation, limitations in sources of finance and labor, and disease management.
In the end, meeting participants agreed on the way forward:
- Look for opportunities to generate income for smallholders: it was decided to continue the intervention on fodder with some improvements, such as making fences and inter-cropping grass with legume type of seeds;
- Use crop rotation to help resolve the problem of disease, and increase soil fertility and water development: for the next season maize will be replaced by sesame while teff was suggested to be replaced by legume plants;
- CIP will introduce additional species of sweet potato, both in the lowlands and highlands as well as silage production to improve feed conservations.
In a nutshell, the field visit and Innovation Platform meeting helped stimulate changes in smallholder agriculture, share successful interventions, discuss potential opportunities for other interventions, generate suggestions and recommendations, and channel information and resources to those needed them.
* The Feed Assessment Tool (FEAST) is a systematic method to assess local feed resource availability and use. It helps in the design of intervention strategies aiming to optimize feed utilization and animal production.
Who does what in Diga, Ethiopia? In the framework of Soil Water Conservation, IWMI is testing three new type of farming technologies: maize, fodder and teff; CIP is testing sweet potato, specifically in areas where natural resources problems have occurred; and ILRI provides guidance and support to the Innovation Platform who coordinates these experiments and monitors interventions to evaluate their scalability.
Blog by Desalegne Tadesse, Communications Officer, IWMI; Zelalem Lema, Research Officer, Innovation System in Agriculture, ILRI; and Dr. Teklu Erkossa, Researcher, Land and Water Resources, IWMI. Blog edited by Valérie Poiré, Communication Officer, Humidtropics. Photos by Desalegne Tadesse/IWMI.