A platform of farmers, retailers and service providers, civil society organisations, NGOs, government ofï¬cials, and researchers improves livelihoods in Rwanda. Through interaction and collaboration, these groups experiment with various technological and institutional innovations, thereby tackling local agricultural challenges. This experience illustrates the importance of institutionalizing a space where knowledge can be co-created. The high altitude hills and cooler temperatures of the Great Lakes Region of Central Africa provide the ideal conditions for agriculture. However, … [Read more...]
Nutrition-Sensitive Landscapes: Farm and Landscape Modelling to Improve Nutrition in Kenya
Mary Adoyo* is a Kenyan smallholder farmer in Masana sub-location, Vihiga county in Western Kenya. For much of the year, she manages the family farm alone while her husband works in Nairobi to support his family with monthly remittances. She produces enough maize on their one acre plot to supply her family with maize meals for only six months of the year. Their farm also produces beans, bananas, sweet potatoes, avocados, mangoes, papayas, lettuce, kales and traditional Kenyan vegetables such as mitoo (Crotalaria spp.). Many of these products are sold locally to generate money to purchase food … [Read more...]
Humidtropics R4D Platform WeRATE Wins Two Awards in Kenya
The Agriculture Society of Kenya (ASK) Kakamega Show, running from June 17 to 20, 2015, provided an excellent platform to inform farmers about the latest agricultural technologies developed and tested by the Western Region Agriculture Technology Evaluation (WeRATE) R4D Platform in the Humidtropics West Kenya Action Site, shared with the N2Africa and IFAD Cassava Projects. Working closely with the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA), WeRATE organized a very successful exhibit during the show, advancing its theme Enhancing Technology in Agriculture and Industry for Food … [Read more...]