For many years, Teklu Erkossa, a Humidtropics Researcher from IWMI, has been doing research on land and water resources in Ethiopia, a country where agricultural productivity is suffering from water scarcity and land degradation. "In addition, the soils often have quite particular water-related characteristics that are unsuitable for many traditional crops. As a result, we have been exploring alternative cropping options to restore and preserve highly degraded areas in the country. Our platform-driven research project has demonstrated that using Innovation Platform approaches is an … [Read more...]
The Hills Are Coming to Life in Vietnam
For agroforesters, there is nothing more refreshing than seeing a hill covered with trees interplanted with crops. For agroforesters concerned with livelihoods, health and nutrition, there is nothing sweeter than seeing a hill covered with fruit trees and nutritious vegetables. Both these cases applied to me when I recently visited Humidtropics' sites in Son La Province of Northwest Vietnam. The primary purpose of my visit on June 15–17, 2015, was to represent the East and Central Asia Region, and the Thailand and Vietnam country programs of the World Agroforestry Centre (ICRAF) at … [Read more...]
Humidtropics Launches Research for Development Platform in Ethiopia
Humidtropics has been implementing action research activities in Ethiopia since 2014 through local innovation platforms established in two field sites in Jeldu and Diga districts in the western part of the country. These local innovation platforms were originally established in 2011 by the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) as part of the Nile Basin Development Challenge (NBDC) project, which implemented natural resource management interventions for three years in these field sites. At the end of the project, livestock feed interventions for increased feed availability and … [Read more...]