Pathways to Sustainable Intensification in Eastern and Southern Africa – Kenya 2013
The Adoption Pathways project was part of a portfolio of projects that has contributed to the broader theme of sustainable intensification research led by the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) and made possible by the contribution of several teams from national and international research groups brought together by funding from the Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research (ACIAR). The project was undertaken in the five Eastern and Southern African countries of Ethiopia, Kenya, Malawi, Mozambique and Tanzania. 1. Gender disaggregated three wave panel data set (2010/11, 2013), building on a legacy dataset collected under a related ACIAR funded project (SIMLESA) is now being developed covering close to 3500 households in each data wave across the five project countries. The 2015/16 data will be available in due course. 2. Several empirical evaluations of the gender gaps in technology adoption, food security and market access have been completed and published. 3. These results have been shared in various policy forums including but not limited to annual project meetings. In order to achieve its full impact in the coming years; we propose that new projects and initiatives based on the work of the Adoption Pathways project be established. These should focus on capacity building for the analysis of panel datasets, continued work on studying intrahousehold input allocation and sharing of agricultural output and scaling up the findings from this project to influence next generation of sustainable agriculture policies.
SIMLESA is a four-year (July 2010-December 2013) program funded by the Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research (ACIAR). The aim of SIMLESA program is to improve farm-level food security, in the context of climate risk and change, through the development of more resilient, profitable and sustainable farming systems that overcome food insecurity for significant numbers of farm families in eastern and southern Africa. SIMLESA promotes the use of adapted maize-legume technologies as well as improved varieties and develops
Food security is a major concern in the east and southern Africa region. While the food crisis has receded somewhat at the international level, within the region urban food prices remain relatively high. Among the food crops, maize is the main staple and legumes an important dietary protein source for the rural poor. Legumes are widely used as an intercrop in maize systems, and are also significant source of income for women. Seasonal variability causes wide swings in food crop yields, including maize and legumes. Rain-fed maize-legume cropping systems show considerable promise in boosting productivity and helping reverse the decline in soil fertility that is a fundamental cause of low smallholder productivity in the region.